Why my 23-year-old Indian American daughter started paying Vantiga

By Nandkishore Kalambi; Boston, USA, May 30th 2020

#Covidtimes has brought families closer and created opportunities for us to bond by debate and discussion. One such opportunity came yesterday at lunchtime when, as a family of three, we savored my wife's delectable Amchi cooking of ambya sasam and sol kadi. As we polished off the meal we marveled at the amazing diversity of our cuisine leading to a discussion on what really defines us as Amchi - our amazing cuisine, our unique language, and our rich customs.

Given that my Indian-American daughter, Anushri speaks mostly in English, largely depends on her mother for all Amchi dishes and has only a high level appreciation of our traditions, - the realization dawned on her that this could easily be lost for her future children. And then we reassured her that we always have our mothership - The Chitrapur Math - our ultimate home where all of this will still be preserved and protected. The fond memories of her visit to the Math during the NRI Shibir a few years back came flooding back. And so did the loving gaze of our Parampujya - Shrimat Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji - which always fills us up with solace and comfort at all times.

Anushri has recently started working at a part time job and I gently broached the topic of Vantiga - an annual contribution for the upkeep of the Math. This year due to the COVID lockdown in India, it has become imperative to give the Vantiga early to help tide over the situation. I was pleasantly surprised when she readily agreed not only to contribute but give even more than the 1% of annual income that is the tradition.

Our conversation then rambled into different aspects of being an Amchi, a lot of it drawn from the very detailed and thoughtful analysis of "The Chitrapur Saraswat Community" by Shrikant G Talageri*:

Our language - Konkani - has a unique flavor to it. Konkani is spoken all along the Konkan coast from Maharashtra to Kerala. For many years after the Indian independence Konkani was recognized as a dialect of the Marathi language even though Konkani is possibly an older language. This is well analyzed by Shrikant-mam in his piece. He explains how this language preserves words and phrases coming from the Vedic times, fuses many cultures and is possibly distinctive from all modern Indian languages. Our Konkani has progressed more through oral and aural traditions than a fixed written script. Anushri, a student of Classical Studies, has understood this well through ancient Greek and Roman literature which was based initially on oral/aural methods of transmission. In fact, the number of languages in the world today which do not have a defined script still number in thousands and there are only less than a hundred unique scripted languages. These traditions allowed our language to evolve and expand through generations. Language is a form of expression of thought and its richness gives us glimpse of the depth and sophistication of our thinking, as a community.

Our cuisine - is equally distinctive and sophisticated. Ras Chandrika, our food encyclopedia has over 500 recipes and we know that we could be eating a new dish three meals a day, every day of the week, for an entire month and still not have to repeat it once. Our flavors and aromas are neither North Indian nor South Indian. They are distinctive from every other cuisine in India yet draw from many. Right from the simple daily fare of dali toya, batata song to the more celebratory ambya sasam, vali ambatta and madgane - the range is staggering and designed uniquely for every mood, season, and occasion. Most of them require a lot of hard work in the kitchen, grinding coconut, fresh spices, and many ingredients. And even though these have given way to the easier options of general Indian and western cuisines in many Amchi homes - our traditional cuisine still rules the hearts and stomachs

Our customs and heritage - we can still see glimpses of them are seen in some festivals, weddings and ceremonies but otherwise many of them have faded out from our daily lives especially for those who live in more urban settings.

It is no wonder that the contribution of our miniscule community has far outweighed its size. We have produced movie icons like Guru Dutt, Deepika Padukone; world champions like Prakash Padukone and Arvind Savur; business leaders like Nandan Nilekani; military leaders like Air Chief Marshal Katre; musicians, writers...the list is long.

The repository of all this wealth - language, cuisine, and traditions - is in our mothership - Shri Chitrapur Math in Shirali. It is our shared inheritance and we are blessed that it is growing - in size, influence, and contribution thanks the visionary leadership of our Parama Pujya Shrimat Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji. Our Swamiji has modernized the Math, made it relevant for today's times and set it on a path of sustainable growth.

While the Math has always been our spiritual abode, it has focused itself on socio-economic development with sustainable practices. The 300-year-old Math complex has retained its original structures which have been restored painstakingly while expanding and adding modern facilities like guest houses, meditation center, a dairy, acres of organic farming and a museum filled with archaeological wonders. In addition, the Math has set up several entities which focus on sustainable development and upliftment of the underprivileged through education, women's empowerment, and other social projects. We have recorded some of these experiences in a report on our visit to the NRI Shibir where we experienced some of these first-hand turning out to be a truly transformative experience A Transformative Experience - a report on the NRI Shibir

In the ongoing COVID19 lockdown the Math has again risen to the occasion and gone on overdrive to support the surrounding community.

Many aspects of this rich tradition and culture which make us one of the most accomplished, educated, and successful communities in the world are slowly fading. However regardless of whether one speaks Konkani, knows our cuisine, or is married to a non-Amchi - our Math has an inclusive and welcoming approach to all and that is biggest source of comfort.

Next morning, when I thanked Anushri for making the decision to contribute to Vantiga - her response was heartwarming. She said, as she brewed her morning coffee, in her usual nonchalant way 'Don't thank me...it is my duty...in fact now I am doubling my contribution’. With that I felt a bit more reassured that the Amchi tradition in our family is in safe hands...

This is an opinion piece which is based on only my personal observations and experiences

* "The Chitrapur Saraswat Community" by Shrikant G Talageri : www.talageri.blogspot.com