Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Karnataka Rice Throwing

Age: 20

“Poojes…well wishes and blessings.”

Text:

Informant: “In my culture, they’re used at different times but there’s a combination of these things that I was thinking about. Whenever me and my brother leave somewhere to go back to college without our family, we’re supposed to do, we do “poojes” for a lot of things. Just religious reasons as Hindus. When one of us is leaving or getting on a flight, I don’t know what it’s for but I think it’s for well wishes and blessings. My parents bring out rice and throw rice at the person.

Context:

In Karnatakan culture, it’s common to throw rice at people. It signifies well wishes and good luck as they are about to embark on a new endeavor.

Analysis:

In many cultures, there’s a tradition where wedding attendants toss grains of rice at a couple during the wedding. It symbolizes the person wishing that the couple have a prosperous marriage. In Karnataka, people will throw rice at anyone they want to have good luck. This tradition has a functionalist approach because it satisfies the need for the culture to bring their blessing on family and friends. The ritual is customary, as it’s a gesture or movement. It’s meant to be repeated at important events. It also validates the culture because it’s performed by members who identify as part of the group and is done onto other group members.

Theater Good Luck Ritual

Age: 21

Text:

Informant: “One that I learned growing up that when I’ve done it in other places, people are like, “What the hell are you doing?” It’s like before the show, you’re all standing there behind the curtain waiting to go up. Usually I only end up doing this if it’s a show that I start in the first number, not if I come on later. You know one of those shows where you’re in the ensemble and everybody is standing behind the curtain waiting there. One that I always did was this” (holds hand in fist and raises thumb and pinky finger.) “Like if you’re doing sign language and signing “you and I.” You go around to the other people in the cast and you link pinkies and bite your thumb and it’s just a little way of saying “break a leg, have a good show.” It’s just a little good luck thing. I always did that at the theater that I did shows with growing up and then I went to other places and they were like, “What the hell are you doing?” I was like, “Oh,” (laughs) “Nevermind.” Other than that, when people say “Good luck” to me it makes me really anxious. I’m like “No. That’s bad luck. You can’t say “good luck,” you have to say “Break a leg.””

Interviewer: “Do you remember being taught how to do that or was it just that you observed other people doing it so you just did it, too?”

Informant: “The hand thing, I think it was something that – I did children’s theater and it was just sort of something that was in the culture of that theater. I don’t even know if they do it anymore. When I was there, I think it was the second show I ever did was Mary Poppins and everybody who starts on stage for the ensemble are frozen in their spots so we’d be standing there behind the curtain and all of the older kids would come around and show us how to do it. From there, that was something that I did most every show I was in, and teaching the younger kids how to do it.”

Interviewer: “So was it mostly younger kids and teens or were the adults doing it, too?”

Informant: “It was a children’s theater so the oldest kids were seniors in high school. The group that I was part of was late middle school and high schoolers so we wouldn’t really interact with the younger younger kids, but it was definitely the seniors in high school teaching the youngest.”

Context:

The informant was part of a community theater growing up. They learned rituals specific to their theater from the older students. When the informant went on to join college theater, they learned that other people had never heard about that particular good luck ritual.

Analysis:

Theatre has many superstitions, likely because it has been around for over 2500 years. The superstitions are shared amongst theater members who participate in plays and musicals. Traditionally, these rituals are passed on by the adults or older teens to the young children. Many of them are widely known across theater’s everywhere, such as “Break a leg” for good luck. Naturally, certain theater members will create their own superstitions or rituals that get passed on and stay within that theater, and are foreign to people outside it. The goal is that it gets taught to the younger kids by the older kids to keep the tradition alive. It can be considered a functionalist approach because it’s meant to bring good luck for the performers to do well on stage.

First Communion

Age: 21

Text:
“For my First Communion, we had to wear these pretty white dresses, and I actually wore my mom’s from when she got her First Communion. At that point, it was over 30 years old. We all went to the church, and I was with all my friends from elementary school. I think we were in first grade at the time, and we received our 1st communion. I felt so cute. My mom let me pick out my headband from a really cute First Communion store. And then we went to dinner and we saw Lady Gaga, and it was the best day ever.”

Context:
A catholic girl from NYC who had her First Communion, a coming of age ritual in Catholicism, in the first grade.

Analysis:
Her description of her First Communion demonstrates passing of tradition, the foundation of folklore. This coming of age event that she was excited to experience because it represented a huge milestone in her life. By wearing the same dress her mother did during her First Communion, she was able to connect with her and the celebration even deeper.

Bat Mitzvah

Age: 21

Text: “In the Jewish religion, the really religious people, Orthodox, celebrate it differently. In those cases, the girls don’t actually have Bat Mitzvahs because they’re technically not supposed to read the Torah. But I did because my family’s more reformed. So I obviously had a Bat Mitzvah, and I thought it was the biggest deal ever at the time. It obviously still is, but I thought it was the biggest deal. There was a lot of preparation before because I had to learn like five passages from the Torah and actually learn how to read it. In the Torah it’s hard to read because there’s no accents or anything so you kind of have to know what you’re saying to be able to read it. But it was really, really fun. And then after my service, I had a party, and it was really fun.”

Context: A Jewish girl from Miami. She had her Bat Mitzvah when she was 12, which is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. The Bat Mitzvah is a celebration and transition of girlhood into adulthood. The boy equivalent is a Bar Mitzvah.

Analysis: It was interesting to hear the difference between her Bat Mitzvah and an Orthodox Bar Mitzvahs, especially that Bat Mitzvahs actually don’t exist for Orthodox Jews due to their beliefs. Her Bat Mitzvah is remembered as a very big deal, which is representative of the importance of this ritual. She was excited for this coming-of-age ritual, studied and practiced for it, and completed it with a celebration. She will pass down this religious tradition to her children, as her parents did to her.

Camp Birthday Song

Age: 21

Text:
“Happy, happy birthday. What? Birthday. What? Happy, happy birthday. What? Birthday. What? Everybody knows that it’s your day, so we’re gonna celebrate in the best way. All your friends, no families here. This only happens once a year. Happy, happy birthday? What? Birthday. What?”

Context:
A girl from NYC who learned this song at sleep-away camp, where she spent her summers growing up.

Analysis:
This song is passed down each year from camper to camper during birthday celebrations. It is sung in unison and also features a matching clap “dance” to create the rhythm. This rendition of the Happy Birthday song was made to cater to campers who may or may not be homesick and need to be reminded that they area surrounded by all their friends and having the best time. The song is interactive and dynamic, making the birthday celebration all the more exciting.