In Krishna Jayanthi

Its Krishna Jayanthi today and I’ve always been fascinated by how my wife and Mom make the tiny footprints of the naughty Krishna. I figured its a good idea to make a small photologue of this wonderful ritual.

Step # 1: Get the powdery mix ready. It’s rice pounded into flour and mixed with water. Care should be taken not to make it very watery.

Step #2: Dip the side of the hands into the mix

Step #3: Place them on the floor taking care that one hand should be in front of the other to mimic the walking pattern.

Step #4: The feet are done. Here, they aren’t very clear because the footprints are still wet. They get brighter once they dry up.

Step #5: Now for the tiny fingers. Dip your fingers again into the mix and make five dots for the fingers. Make sure to start with the toe which has the biggest dot and work yourself to the little finger.

Step #6: This is one naughty Krishna who doesn’t care damn about a well laid out kolam and walks right over it. The nerve!

Step #7: He enters home and walks straight into the kitchen where the butter bounty lies!

I remember when my daughters were toddlers a few years ago, we would just dip their feet in the rice flour mix and make them walk!