Pairi Paina — the lost art of seeking & passing on blessings

Priya S Tandon

W hile visiting a temple, if we are able to get up close to the deity in the sanctum sanctorum, we reach out to touch the feet of the deity. A blessed feeling and elation is experienced. Ever wonder why? It is said that energy flows from the head to the toes. So to get energy from the deity, we must touch the feet. The positive energy charges us. When we touch the feet of the deity, we bow down from the waist and bend our head. This is symbolic of subservience or annihilating the ego. The head is said to be held high in ego or pride or self-esteem. Bending the head is symbolic of shedding the feelings of self-aggrandizement.

On a similar strain, we Indians have a tradition of touching the feet of our elders. The usual practice is about touching the feet of the parents and grandparents, elder brothers, in-laws, gurus and saintly people.

The practice is a way to remind the youngsters that the elders have seen more of life and are more experienced than them. When we touch the feet of an elder, usually the elders touch the head of the person doing pranaam and give blessings saying, “God Bless you!” or “Jeete Raho!” or “Kush raho!” or “Saubhagyawati Bhava!” My children love the blessings given by Bheeshma Pitamaha in the Mahabharata, “Ayushmaanbhav! Keertimaan Bhava! Yashasvibhav!”

The youth of today do not want to do charan-pranaam; mostly because their elders, in the rat race of becoming modern, did not bother to teach them its importance. And strangely enough, some elders too give strange reactions to having their feet touched.

I recently noticed a middle aged lady refusing to let her nephew touch her feet. Well, looking at her immaculately groomed and coloured hair, her tiny shorts and boots, complete with her elaborate make-up, I realised that perhaps she was ill at ease with extending her hand out to bless. Because it made her feel old! Undoubtedly, the dust from the west has settled not only on our youth but on our elders as well!

Aging gracefully is something not everyone believes in. The emphasis is mostly on looking and feeling young. While it is good to maintain your good looks and health, but aging does bring with it grace, wisdom, confidence, conviction, humility etc. Beautiful young people are accidents of nature. Beautiful old people are work of art!

Another old lady I noticed in a large joint family would never extend her hand out to bless the younger generation. She would just nod in acknowledgement. The catch came up when one of the daughters-in-law in her morning hurry to go to work and endless jobs to do, forgot to wish Amma. Hell was let loose... Here the morning ‘Pairi-paina’ was just like a roll call, where-in she would mark everyone’s attendance and God help those who forgot! This reminded me of a movie where-in the stern instruction from the grandmother, “PP karo,” meant “Pairi Paina karo!”

I wonder when Apple or Google will come up with an emoji for ‘Pairi-Paina?’ Perhaps it shall then become freely usable. And no one will have to bend and offer respects! The oldies shall also not have to extend a hand or utter a blessing… Everything shall be done just by the click of a button!

On a serious note, I consider the practice to be very meaningful. Energy always flows from higher to lower; from positive to negative. The elders are wiser and more experienced than the youngsters. They would always wish for good and happy things for their offspring.

Whatever age you may be, if you have elders around, do seek their blessings by touching their feet and if you are on the other side of the fence, do not shrink away when someone seeks your blessings, consider yourself a conduit to transfer God’s blessings to your juniors and keep the tradition of ‘Pairi-Paina’ alive!