Hindu Marriage Ritual

Nationality: Indian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: LA
Performance Date: 04/19/2019
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

According to the informant, the equivalent to saying vows in a wedding ceremony and saying I do to each other, the pandit (Hindu priest) says prayers while the bride and groom hold hands and walk around a fire seven times to signify the seven lives that they are going to spend together.

 

Background:

Informant is a 22-year-old USC student from India. Her parents raised her as a Hindu, but she does not practice the religion while at school.

 

Analysis:

The seven lives come from the fact that the Hindu religion involves the reincarnation of the soul when one dies. The couple is destined to marry each other within each of their seven lives. In the view of the informant, the ritual should change with each reincarnation with the couple walking one less time around the fire to represent each life they have lived together.

Hindu Proverb

Nationality: Indian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: LA
Performance Date: 04/19/2019
Primary Language: Hindi (urdu)
Language: English

Main Piece:

Original text (Hindi):

“एक् और एक् ग्यारह् हॊते है”

(ek aur ek gyarah hote hei)

 

Literal Translation (English):

“One and one makes eleven”

 

Translation:

There is strength in unity.

 

Background:

Informant is a 22-year-old USC student from India. His parents raised him as a Hindu, but he does not practice the religion while at school. The proverb was told to the informant by his parents when he was a young child

 

Analysis:

The idea that one and one makes eleven is an interesting way of viewing the strength that comes from numbers. In a way, this proverb claims that the strength of two people working together is more than five times more powerful than having two work separately. This speaks volumes to the emphasis that Hinduism places on harmony and sharing the work between all people.

Vietnamese Wedding Traditions

Nationality: Vietnamese
Age: 52
Occupation: Doctor
Residence: Los Angeles; born: Saigon, Vietnam
Performance Date: 2/12/19
Primary Language: Vietnamese
Language: English

Main Piece

“A long time ago, there were twin men. Both of their parents were dead. So, the twins stayed together in the same house. One of the brothers got married to a woman. Usually the twin who got married first came home from work first. But one day, for some reason, the younger twin came home first. So, the wife thought that he was the younger twin. She greeted him as his brother, made dinner for him, and acted flirtatious with him. The younger twin told her who he really was and she was very embarrassed. The younger twin thought to himself, “I might be a bother to my brother’s family because the wife could not recognize who is who!” So, he left the house and walked and walked, not sure where to go, and died by a river bank. When he died, he became the limestone by the bank. The older brother came home and noticed the other brother left and didn’t know why. He left the house to search for his brother. He followed his brother’s trail to the river bank but didn’t see his brother, so he lied down by the limestone and died too. Then he became the betel palm tree. The wife noticed that her husband never came home and his brother was gone all evening. So, she went to go look for them and followed their trails to the river. But she couldn’t find them and in despair sat down by the bank and died too, becoming the vine and leaves that climbed up the betel tree of her husband, like a wife hugging her husband. This became the symbol of family in Vietnam because they were always very close.”

 

Context

My mom escaped from Vietnam during the war when she was 12 years old. Back in Vietnam, her grandma told her this story as a bedtime store. It is meant to show how close Vietnamese families are and that even after death, they will always be together. My mom told me this story when I was little and I would ask her to repeat it a lot. I got her to repeat it for me again while we were on the phone so I could hear her tell it.

 

Notes

I think it’s interesting that many of the Vietnamese legends explain traditions through things that happen in nature. This legend also acts in a proverb in a way that tells families nature intended for them to always stay together and close. The younger brother leaving the house and dying because he did not want to interfere with his brother’s family also shows the extreme sacrifices nature intended for families to take for each other.

Why Only Female Mosquitos Drink Blood

Nationality: Vietnamese
Age: 52
Occupation: Doctor
Residence: Los Angeles; born: Saigon, Vietnam
Performance Date: 2/12/19
Primary Language: Vietnamese
Language: English, French

Main Piece

“A long time ago, there was a man and a woman who were married to each other. The wife became sick and was about to die. So, the husband called the witch doctor who diagnosed her and said that if the man gives his wife 3 drops of his blood to swallow, then her disease will be cured. So he gives her 3 drops of his blood and she was cured and wouldn’t die. They lived with each other for quite a while. But one day, the man wasn’t home, the wife got kidnapped by a rich merchant. At first the woman was terrified, but then she got used to a life of luxury and refused to go back to her husband. The man was so outraged and asked for his blood back for her betrayal. So the woman agreed said, “Ok, I’ll give you back your 3 drops of blood!” She gave back the blood and died. But when she died, she became a mosquito. So to this day, she searches, as a mosquito, trying to get her 3 drops of blood back so she can become human again.”

 

Context

My mom escaped from Vietnam during the war when she was 12. In Vietnam, her grandma would tell her bedtime stories and this was one of them. When I was little, my mom would tell me this story at the dinner table after we ate to entertain me.

 

Notes

I enjoy hearing legends like this that explain the odd phenomenon of nature that science cannot explain. I think they are a lot of fun to hear and imagine. Science can explain perhaps why it happens, but nobody can really say why it is that way. I also think it’s interesting that the rule of 3’s (common in the U.S.) is in a Vietnamese legend too.

Saint Nicholas Day

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: USC Undergrad Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/21/19
Primary Language: English
Language: parts of German

Main Piece

“Saint Nicholas is like Santa Claus, but in Germany he’s still Santa. His day is December 6thand umm, the night before, you leave your boots out for Saint Nicholas. I don’t remember what the story was, but I remember the traditions that we would do.

So, you leave your biggest pair of boots out, and like, you know – however big your boot is how much you’re going to get. So, you want to leave really big boots out. And he leaves oranges, is like the big thing he leaves. And candies and chocolates and small toys in your boots. So, you leave them out the night before and you get your boots. But I remember oranges being the big thing.”

 

Context

The informant told me this story while we were exchanging fun things we used to do when we were little. We got on the topic of Christmas and told each other traditions we participated in when we were younger. After some research, the oranges are supposed to represent the gold balls that St. Nicholas would throw at children. St. Nicholas day is December 5th and children put out their shoes/boots that night so they can collect them the morning of December 6th.

 

Background Information

The informant was born in Charlottesville, Virginia. She comes from a family where both of her parents are lawyers in the military (jags). She has lived in Germany, Kansas, Virginia, and goes back to Oregon every summer to her family’s main home. While living in Germany, she spent Christmas there and her family participated in the Christmas tradition there.

I have heard of Christmas traditions such as “Elf on the Shelf” and leaving out your stockings to be filled with gifts and candies on Christmas Eve. My Christmas traditions never included these, but we would bake and leave cookies out for Santa on Christmas Eve. I have never heard of leaving out boots so early before Christmas, and wonder why Santa giving oranges was such a big deal.