Rajendra Pal Bansal

Rajendra was unique in himself; He was intelligent but desperate and frustrated person in life because he never got right opportunities because of his limitation , family background at the time he was born in that family. Circumstance did not allow him to grow and progress according to his ability and capability.His father had little to offer him or to any child as his condition then was very poor with very limited resources. What Rajendra came to be, it was his own effort and destiny.Rajo was certainly very fortunate to be his wife and to be in that family.He felt left out, unfortunate and disappointed and frustrated through out his life.
Drinking and smoking excessively was the outcome of that frustration. I and Rajendra had very good understanding of each other while all others misunderstood him including his own family members. I will ever remain under obligation to him as he kept my sister much more better way than she deserved.He took especial care of my daughter, Sapna, perhaps more than his own children. She is what she is because of him.I can never be free from his debt and obligation. We had great mutual respect for each other.
He died prematurely just before his retirement ( He could have retired from Bina near Jhansi ). I feel very sorry about if as this was the time that he could enjoyed his life very well especially with the progress of Sachin.In fact, Drinking took his life breaking down the whole system of his body especially the kidney , liver and diabetes. Lately he improved a lot in his life style but during the last phase of his life, he was left alone after the birth of Tuk Tuk (Avani ) daughter of Sachin. Rajo remained behind in Pune while he has to go back to his job , not to return to anywhere.He felt isolated, started excessive drinking and smoking without any proper food etc; got weak and his system started collapsing, one day he fell down from the staircase which could have been ordinary thing in normal circumstances but in this case , he was injured and never got cured rather got worst and worst, finally shifted to GangaRam Hospital, Delhi. It was too late. He struggled there alone with limited care whatever Rajo could give him during his last days.
Rajendra will always remain in my memory.

Prarabhadh

This is subject which has been discussed very widely in many discussion groups. Fate or Free will, Destiny or Destination etc. I just want to put my thoughts in a very simple way;

A person is born in a particular family, community and society;
A person is born as male or female;
A person is born in a particular place, a village, town, city, India, Ethiopia, Nigeria or America etc;
A person is born in a desert, an island, mountain .... later, even migrates from one place to another according to his circumstances;
A person is born to be a specific professional- a doctor, engineer, scientist, businessman, or an ordinary laborer; a butcher, hangman, Priest ....
A person is born as a beggar or a rich, a king or a minister, a President or a doorkeeper etc.
A person is born as a believer or nonbeliever; a christian or a Hindu or in a tribal with no faith or religion etc; or later, even may change his alliance from one faith to another;
Thus a person is born in any dual situation which may even be changing from time to time;

But certainly, one has no choice to choose his parents and his siblings though later he has the choice to maintain the relationship with any one around.
Therefore, one thing is very clear and certain that in many ways, one does not have a choice what to be or not to be. That establishes the concept of PRARABDH (cumulative results of our actions in past lives) and one is born as he is born to some one, in some place at some time etc. Later also, most of his actions are governed by his DESTINY / Fate etc. which is controlled by his Prarabdh though individual feels that he is what he is because of his own actions and choice etc.

A few example may be cited here;
Ms Sonia was married to Rajeev Gandhi in Gandhi-Nehru family to be Sonia Gandhi - to be what she is to day;
Accordingly RAHUL JI is born to be what he is to be destined....
While poor Sanjay Gandhi died prematurely...
Obama was destined to be, what he is today.

In fact, all of us are living our life, short or long, which is already destined, or what we are supposed to be and to be doing...

Living and working in Jungle and desert

Most people know about forest and desert only from their geography text books,but only a few would have seen them (except those who live there ). Both of these environments are very harsh and difficult to live and work in . Going for fun and pleasure like for hunting or safari etc. is another thing as their routes and areas are well defined and people are escorted by those people who are accustomed and familiar of those areas.Only a very few are privileged who have not only seen them but lived and worked there. I am one of those privileged one. The Forest: The thick and deep forests of Doon Valley and Nainital valley are not easily accessible to common men.It was 1963-64 GM Part # UP13 of ONGC which was working in Nainital, Pilibhit area.In that forest area, our first main camp was in Khatima- a well populated town but adjacent to the forest.The Banbasa area of the forest is very thick. Inside the forest, sunlight can hardly be seen, it is all dark surrounded by tall trees and creepers on them.No routes or roads except a few identification marks of survey of India. If you are lost, you are lost, nobody to guide you to come out. The forest is full of wild animals- tigers, leopards, wild cats, dogs, boars, elephants, bears and several others and variety of birds flying around.The forest is noisy when it is windy or perfect silent at other times.Our second partial camp was in Banbasa very near to Sharda canal/dam ( the canal was mostly constructed under the execution of my grandfather, Shri Bihari Lal Gupta during British regime ). The main population of this locality was of THARU tribe ( very beautiful and handsome people with free life style ). Our camp was just at the edge of the forest and our most of the work was inside the thick forest.The wild animals I mentioned earlier on were seen almost on daily basis. They used to visit our camp though our camp was well protected by guards and continuous burning fire and lights to keep them away. This was real and fantastic unique experience impossible to get even for the people who live in that neighbourhood. Living and working was very tough but I enjoyed it and I remember it so fondly.We encountered all kinds of problems, loosing our directions, breakdown of our vehicles, trapped in the Forest in late hours.Every day was full with fear and uncertainty and of course with new experience.But, I am sure that you can not get this kind of experience at any cost. Doon Valley Forest:( 1965-66): Forest starts right from Mohand where we had our first camp just at the edge of the forest and a valley of hilly flowing river.Second camp was in Biharigarh on the other side of the valley. The forests had a few huts here and there where some tribes ( muslim banjaras ) were living in small groups.Who were they? , how were they living there? , their life styles etc. I tried to know about them but that would be too much to describe here. I may write about it seperately somewhere else.From both the camps , we were doing our work for ELECTRICAL Exploration for ONGC.This was even harder work what I did in Banbasa area.The work was done in the isolated valleys in the thick forests during the nights only.It was a tougher job in the rough hilly valleys and stony river lets and also with the fear of wild animals though we were protected with lights and fire etc.This was a different kind of unique experience not only living but working in the forest areas. THAR Desert: Difficult to imagine the natural environment of a desert and especially of our famous desert of THAR in Rajasthan.One could know the geography of the desert from the standard text books but not the real conditions which are harsh, unimaginable and monotonous etc.Indian Railways operates up to Jaisalmer only - a tourist point- a big city established by the kings of that time ; has all facilities for the tourists ( a must place to visit ); from Jaisalmer to Ramgarh is a tar road; a bus operates on that route , not sure about the frequency, perhaps once in a week or so; Ramgarh is the last village with a population of few hundreds.From Ramgarh to Longenwala via Gamnewala is a sand-tar road constructed by military now. At the time, we were working there, there was nothing after Ramgarh except high sand dunes mostly naked without even a bush.Area after Ramgarh is real desert only with shifting high sand dunes, no bush, no tree or any kind of vegetation. In this area you travel just in wilderness.These places known as Gamnewala, Longenwala, Ghotaru and Shahgarh etc. are known as halting places for the nomades as these places have the water wells.Ghotaru even does not have a well but a flat gravel spread without much sand. This was the place about 200 miles from Jaisalmer, deep in the desert and very near to the Pakistan border.We used to change our mud tread tires to sand tread tires in Ramgarh so that our high power vehicles could track the sand dunes. ( one simply can not travel in this area with ordinary and normal vehicles .This area is simply impossible to access for the civilians and most people even living in Rajasthan can not think of visiting this area. No tracks, no directions, no identifications, even the sand dunes are sifting ones, to day, they were here to morrow, they would be somewhere else.It is due to our drivers who knew every inch of this area, we could travel inside the desert.Inside, there is no living being, a fly, mosquito etc. but variety of scorpions including the flying ones every where.;pin drop silence as nothing to make sound or noise.The sand in this area does not move but runs during the day time when the temperatures during 11am to 4pm. are very high and simply not tolerable and in the night freezing. I lived and worked in that area for about five months.A very unique experience of living and working with a few people living in the camp. our camp was very near to Pakistan border , therefore, most of the labourers were from the nearby areas of Pakistan.Our camp guard/watchman, Karima, invited me several times to his village in Pakistan.Karima was very honest and sincere person to the core. Seismic work was done mostly in the night . The work was really very tough.It was possible only due to good team work and hard working local people.The limited source of water was only from Longenwala well which was about 50 miles from our camp.Living in an isolated, rough place with limited facilities in the hostile environment is an experience in itself. However,I never felt bad about it rather enjoyed being in the typical and unique situation. It is hard to visualize or conceptualise the situation or environmental conditions of that place. Just imagine as how one could manage day to day affairs of living- bread and butter for breakfast,something for lunch or dinner, without any market nearby ( nearest for limited things was Jaisalmer about 200 miles- one full day for going there only ). We had powerful generators, therefore we enjoyed certain luxury of having light, referigirator and air conditioned office and wireless system for communication even in the far remote area of the desert.But what about those poor people born, brought up and living in that place?.They were deprived from those technological advances and advantages.These technological advances and advantages are again for those privileged people again living in posh urban areas.

TALKING THALI

This article is reproduced from;

http://devdutt.com/the-talking-thali/

The Talking Thali

Jan 16, 2012 | Filed under Articles, Myth Theory.

Published in First City, Dec. 2011



The best way to destroy a culture is to destroy the kitchen. For it is in the kitchen that a language is spoken that addresses the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue and even the skin, all five senses, something that all of us are exposed to since childhood but few of us realize. By cooking Chinese food in the Chinese way,the Chinese mother makes her child Chinese. By cooking Zulu food in the Zulu way, the Zulu mother makes her child Zulu.

No child is born with an understanding of culture. As the child grows up his mind is shaped by thoughts of those around. But these thoughts are not necessarily communicated through words, and certainly not the written word. What the mind receives are not instructions but patterns. And patterns have always been communicated through symbols, stories and rituals. The kitchen is full of symbols and rituals that shape the mind of the child. Change these symbols and rituals and you change the thoughts of the children and with it the culture of an entire community. It is a surprising fact that this has not been realized or noticed by child psychologists. Perhaps the humble kitchen as a place of learning seems to be far fetched for the modern mind.

A traditional Indian kitchen was a sacred space. It was decorated with auspicious signs. Sometimes, it doubled up as the puja room. In many households, you are not allowed to enter the kitchen with footwear, you are expected to bathe before lighting the kitchen fire, you are not allowed to eat unless you have taken a bath – all this clearly gave the child a message, food is not just for filling the stomach, food is something special and sacred, the offerings of the yagna of life. Without food, there is no existence. Today, the kitchen is changing in character. The aim is to create a kitchen that is highly efficient and effective and sanitized to satisfy the needs of the working couple. It almost seems like a factory: a good fridge, a good dishwasher, pressure cooker, gadgets to mix and grate and pound and mince, microwaves to quickly heat food. It is clean and quick, everything wrapped in foil and plastic, no stains, no smells, no vapors. What is the message? Cooking is a chore, an industrial activity, food is merely nourishment for the body, of functional value primarily.

What changed the kitchen from temple to factory? Is it the rise of secularism that saw food scientifically and rejected all sacred notions as silly superstition? Is it the rise of feminism, the Western variety, which saw the kitchen as a prison created by men for women? Kitchen duties, once the soul of the household, became a burden. There is a desperate need for quick solutions – easy to cook food, ready made food, outsourced food, food cooked by a cook, to liberate the lady of the household. Food ordered from outside has become more exciting than boring daily kitchen fare. The message: everything can be outsourced, everything can be industrialized, even the hearth.

It is in the kitchen that the Indian child learns the concept of ‘jhoota’ of pollution; how food that has been tasted by someone else spoils the food. One never tastes food while cooking and one never offers tasted food to the gods. Eating ‘jhoota’ food is a sign of love and subservience; we eat the ‘jhoota’ of gods and elders. In a Chinese kitchen, the child learnt how using chopsticks is the sign of civilization; only barbarians used hands, knives and forks. They learnt how a good cook always cuts food in tiny pieces so that they are chopstick-friendly. In a Roman kitchen, the child learnt that it was a luxury to be eat food while lying down. In India, eating while lying down was akin to show disrespect to food.

In the Indian kitchen, the child learnt to value approximation over exactness. Cooks never measured the quantity of salt to be added; it was all by judgment, salt to taste. Recipes were never written down but passed down through apprenticeship. One figured out proportion visually, by seeing the amount of food before, and through smell, never taste. Cooking therefore had to be creative, demanding opening up of other senses, beyond the taste buds. The cook was expected to rely on his eyes and ears and finger tips and nose, anything but the mouth. The absence of recipes indicated to the child that life was not about formulas. You had to work with what you had and be creative at it. It also meant that wisdom could not be stored outside human beings, in documents. The dish had no independent existence outside the cook. When the mother died, the particular taste of her dal went with her.

The masala box is a powerful tool to explain adjustments and accommodation. Every masala box had the same ingredients – but the proportions used by different cooks created different flavors. Bad food could be made good by adding another spice. Thus everything could be managed, with a little bit of creativity. With ready made masala packets coming in, the tastes are getting increasingly standardized, a sign of what may be called Westernization.

In most parts of the world, people sat around the hearth and ate around it. In deserts, meat cooked over the fire was cut and served on flat bread. In cold climates, a pot hung over the hearth around which the family gathered. Whatever was caught and collected during the day was put in the pot – thus was born the soup and the broth, to be eaten with bread. In Islamic countries, food was served on a single dish to evoke equality and brotherhood. In Punjab, the notion of a collective oven to make bread created the romantic notion of ‘sanjha choolah’ where women gathered to gossip and bake bread at dusk just as they gathered around the well at dawn. In China, eating together with all dishes placed in the center, was a sign of unity. In Europe, food was served initially in the centre of the table and you ate what you could reach or was passed on to you by your neighbor – the precursor of buffet food, where each one is for himself, though everyone has access to bounty. Later, as manpower was increasingly available in rich households, food started being served by servants. In the 16th century, eating with forks and knives gained popularity; before that,all was finger food. How you ate food and your understanding of subtle flavors and aromas became a measure of your aristocracy.

In India, food was always served on a thali, either made of leaves (organic hence disposable) or metal (inorganic hence needed to be washed). Everyone ate in separate utensils, to reinforce the idea of ‘jhoota’. The women served the food. The men of the household ate first, then the children and finally the women. This was hierarchy established. Good food in India had much to do with caste hierarchy: food cooked in ghee, and by Brahmins, was highly prized, resulting in the employment of the ‘maharaj’ in royal and affluent households. The cook in these places had a higher station than the members of the household and so had a greater control over the kitchen fire than even the women of the household.

In most cultures, feasts are associated with festivals and rites of passage such as marriage, childbirth and the end of bereavement. Food was a powerful tool to establish religious and communal identity. Kosher food ensured that the Jewish people retained their identity as they wandered the world seeking a home. In Muslim households, the holy month of Ramzan is marked by fasting by day and feasting at night; everyone breaks the fast with dates on sighting of the moon. In many Christian households, during Lent no egg, or fish, is eaten leading to large consumption of eggs after Easter. Hindus become strict vegetarian either in the month of Shravan or the month of Kartik. Sour food is not eaten on Fridays to remind the household of Santoshi, the goddess of satisfaction. The kitchen fires are not used for several days when a death occurs in the family. Hindus offer Shiva raw milk, Krishna butter, while the goddess is offered lime. Thus through rites and ritual, food comes to acquire meaning.

The way food is eaten also has impact on the way we think. Imagine eating a proper four course meal: first there is the soup, then the salad, then the main course and finally desert. Everything is controlled and sequential. Now imagine eating a thali: everything served simultaneously, the salad, the rice, the roti, the curries, the sweets, even the chutneys and papad. The Western meal is served in a linear way while the Indian meal is served in a cyclical way. The movement of the hand in Western food as the meat is cut and forked, is highly linear while the finger moves circularly while tearing the roti or mixing the rice. The Indian dishes are not eaten individually but have to be mixed, a practice that is uniquely Indian. So in Western cuisine, we taste what the cook serves but in Indian cuisine we taste our own mixture. This is the height of customization. Could this be the reason why Indians are so individualistic and resist working in a team as a group?

GAYA Yatra

Gaya Shrardham

Gaya being located in is a Shrraddha Bhoomi. The place where we were asked to stay is managed by a Gujarati lady who also speaks Tamil. We experienced continuous power cuts, no sun- light in bathrooms, inadequate water in Gaya( Lallu Prasad Yadav's Rajyam) (almost zero water for those who preferred to enter bath rooms at the end) (power cut also compounded the problem of not having water in overhead tank). We were also told Phalguni river is having knee deep water only and only Brokshanam is possible. Gaya is a holy place revered by Hindus and Buddhists alike. While to Hindus, it is the footprint of Vishnu (the Vishnu Padam), the Akshaya Vatam and the chance of performing the Vedic rites not just for 3 generations of ancestors, but anyone and everyone that attracts them to Gaya, for Buddhists it is the sacred Banyan tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment. Indeed the regular influx of Buddhists from all over the world has made Bodh Gaya a tourist spot in Bihar, and a tourist attraction with all kind of facilities, something like an oasis in the heart of a desert!

Gaya is all about legends, and there are legends connected to every temple there and every rite that is performed.

Let me start with the name of the place. 'Gaya'. According to the legend, there was once an Asura named Gayasuran, who was a great devotee of Vishnu. When the Devas couldn’t bear the trouble he caused any more, they went to Vishnu and asked for a way out. Vishnu approached Gayasuran and told him that He wanted to perform a special yagna, and wanted a special place to perform it. Gayasuran offered his heart, and Vishnu accepted. The yagna began, and soon, the fumes and the heat became unbearable, and Gayasuran started succumbing to it. Vishnu asked him for his final wish, and Gayasuran asked that the place he died would be immortalized by his name, and hence the name ‘Gaya’. Second, he asked that people should be allowed to perform the sacred rites (Pinda pradaanam) not only for their ancestors, but for anyone- family, distant relatives, friends and foes, non-Hindus, pets, unclaimed bodies- in short, for any dead human/creature they could think of. This remains the only place where Pinda pradaanam is carried out in this manner. In fact, I am told that in a normal Shrraddham , 6 pindams are made (two for each generations which are no more); in a Teertha Shrraddham , as at Kashi, Allahabad, Rameswaram, etc., 16 pindams are offered, including all ancestors on both parents side; in the Gaya Shrraddham, 64 pindams are offered, of which 16 are for the mother alone, since she carries her child for 9 whole months within her body, 16 for the ancestors, and 16 for all others as I have mentioned earlier. Of course, all this is a matter of faith and belief, but what is there in life if we don’t have faith? Anyway, once Vishnu granted his wishes, he stepped on him with his foot, leaving a footprint at this holy place, and granting liberation to Gayasuran. It is this footprint which is worshipped as the Vishnu Padam. For the information of devotees, I must mention that for a fee of Rs.50/- an imprint of the Padam is taken on a muslin cloth and given. This is to be kept in the Puja room and is considered very auspicious.


1. Phalguni (Falguni) Teertha Snana Maha Sangalpam
2. Phalguni (Falguni) Teertha Snanam by way of bringing water from the river in sombu and brokshanam
3. Phalguni Hiranya Shrraddham (this is the traditional Shrraddham performed on the banks of any sacred river, here the Falguni.)
4. Shethra Pinda dhanam(17) (given to cow later)
5. Thila tharpanam
6. Vishnu Paada Hiranya Shrraddham †
7. Pinda prathanam ( 64 Pindams for those who have lost mother also; if mother alive 48 pindams)
8. Shethra Pinda Dharisanam at Vishnu Patham
9. Mathru Shodacee(not applicable to those whose mother is alive)
10. Akshaya Vata Anna/Hiranya Shrraddham † (with anna Shrraddham ) with homam
11. Akshaya Vata Pinda Pradaanam ** †
12. Shethra Pinda dhanam
13. Mathru Shodacee(not applicable to those whose mother is alive)
14. Thirupthi Dhakshinai Ask Gaya Brahmans if they are satisfied (according to legend, the Brahmins at Gaya are not easily satisfied and it is a tradition to ask them anyway in an attempt to satisfy them)
Acharya sambhavana (payment of the fees to the pundit)
15. Saka-Pathra-Ful- Dharisanam(Oru kai-Ilai-Pazham viduthal)
16. Bhodhi Vruksha Dharisanam
The next legend concerns the Falguni (or Falgu) river. There is knee deep water in the river at Gaya, though apparently, there is water upstream as well as downstream. It is clear that there is water under the ground, because, even as one digs into the ground with ones fingers, water appears. This is apparently because of a curse on the river. The story goes that Rama, along with his brothers and Sita, came to Gaya to perform the sacred rites for his father, Dasaratha. When the brothers were bathing in the river, Sita was sitting on the banks, playing with the sand. Suddenly, Dasaratha appeared out of the sand, and asked for the Pindam, saying he was hungry. Sita asked him to wait till his sons returned, so that she could give him the traditional Pindam of rice and til. He refused to wait, asking her to give him pindams made of the sand in her hand. Having no other option, she gave him the Pindam he desired with five witnesses – the Akshaya Vatam, the Falguni River, a cow, a Tulsi plant and a Brahmin. Soon, Rama returned and started the rituals. In those days apparently, the ancestors would arrive in person to collect their share, and when Dasaratha did not appear, they wondered why. Sita then told them what had happened, but Rama could not believe that his father would accept pindams made of sand. Sita now mentioned her witnesses, and asked them to tell Rama the truth. Among the five, only the Akshaya Vatam took her side and told the truth, while the others lied, trying to take Rama’s side. In her anger, Sita cursed all of them thus: the Falguni river henceforth would have no water at Gaya; the Cow would no longer be worshipped from the front as all others are- only its backside would be worshipped; there would be no more Tulsi plants at Gaya and the Gaya Brahmins would never be satisfied, they would always be hungry and crave more and more. She then blessed the Akshaya Vatam saying that all who came to Gaya would perform the Pinda pradaanam at the Akshaya Vatam too.

Other temples in the vicinity are the Sakshi Gopal temple and the Mangala Gowri Temple, which is among the Shakti peethams. By the time Shrraddham was over, it was about 4.30 pm. we left Gaya around 5.30 Pm after visiting Bodh Gaya and reached Varanasi around 11.30 Pm. The roads were excellent thanks to National Highway Authority roads improvement programme of Govt. of India. Since one of the vehicles developed a snag, we had to wait for some time enroute.
BODH GAYA
We worship Dhakshinamurthy,Guru or preceptor. A preceptor is more than a teacher, for he not only teaches us things that extends our knowledge, but also those that enrich our lives, and make out life worth living. One of these was the Buddha. Whether we consider Him simply as a Buddhist guru, or the ninth avatar of Vishnu, it remains a fact that He was one of the greatest teachers of all time, and his legacy lives on today in the hearts of millions, some his followers, some simply his admirers. I take the opportunity to write an article on Gaya, one of the places most closely associated with the Buddha. Sanjay & Siddhu can be asked to go through this portion.
Bodh Gaya is about 18 Kms from Gaya. This is where Buddha came in quest of knowledge, and where he finally was enlightened. This is, truly, the birth place of Buddhism. There are, in all, seven sacred places for Buddhists, all associated with the life of Buddha. These are:

1. Lumbini – his birthplace, now in Nepal
2. Kapilavastu – his kingdom, also in Nepal
3. Bodh Gaya – where he attained enlightenment, in Bihar
4. Sarnath – where he gave his first discourse, in UP
5. Shravasti – where he taught many of his students, near Lucknow
6. Rajgir – where he loved when he fell ill, in Bihar, 80 Kms from Gaya
7. Kushinagar – where he breathed his last, in Bihar.


Buddha spent 6 weeks at Gaya. The first week he spent under the Bodhi tree, the second inside the temple, the third near a lake (it is said that when he placed a foot on the water, a lotus appeared under it), the fourth week in the area around the temple, the fifth under another Bodhi tree (which is no more- a pillar stands in its place) answering the questions of learned Brahmins, and the 6th week at the centre of the pond. It is believed that when a severe thunderstorm approached, Adisesha himself arrived to protect the Buddha, forming an umbrella over his head with his hoods. This is the reason Buddha is sometimes counted as the 9th avatar of Vishnu.

There are over 50 temples at Bodh Gaya, all built by foreign Buddhists. The most important one however, remains the Maha Bodhi Temple, where the Bodhi tree stands. But we visited only the main temple.
Bodhi Tree:This tree, though not the original one under which Buddha sat, is however, its descendant. The original tree was destroyed by the Mughals. A branch of the original tree had been taken to Sri Lanka by some Buddhist monks, and Ashoka ordered a branch of that tree to be brought and planted here. He himself took care of this tree. This second one was cut down on the orders of Ashoka’s wife because she was jealous of the attention he paid to it. Nevertheless, he got a second branch from the Sri Lanka tree and planted it. This third one was destroyed during a cyclone, and another branch planted. The present tree is the 4th. It is an amazing thing that branches from the original tree flourish wherever they are planted, all over the world!
Explanations:

* Shrraddham or performing the Vedic rites to appease one’s forefathers is of two types- Anna roopam and Hiranya roopam. Anna Shrraddham is where a certain number of Brahmins are invited, and are fed at the completion of the rituals. This is considered equivalent to feeding one’s ancestors. However, this is quite tedious, and sometimes expensive. Hence the second option, Hiranya Shrraddham, where the Brahmins are fed only symbolically. This is a quicker and cheaper alternative to the same rituals. At places like Kashi the pundits offer us the option of choosing which kind of ritual we would like to perform, depending on our time and budget.
Naandhi and Vaishnava Shrraddham refer to the rites for appeasement of one’s ancestors and the Gods, respectively.

** Pinda pradaanam is the ritual of offering food to three (in case of Gaya, more than that) generations of our ancestors. Balls of cooked rice and Til (sesame seeds), which are thus offered are called the pindams.

*** Daanam - Strictly meaning Charity, Daanam refers to the procedure of donating things to the Brahmins in the name of our ancestors. There is a long list of things that need to be given, starting from simple things like umbrellas, fans, and mats to more expensive things made of silver and gold. Among the more auspicious ones is the donation of a cow (Godaanam) and land, both of which are usually done in symbolic terms. Poorvanga and Uttaranga Daanam refer to the things needed to be given at the beginning and end of the rituals respectively, while Dasa Daanam refers to a set of 10 things that need to be donated.

† The Akshaya Vata and the Vishnu Pada are the only two places where one can perform the Vedic rites not only for our forefathers, but for anyone, family, friends, acquaintances, whatever caste, religion or community they may belong to… and also for animals, our pets, abandoned bodies, etc.. This is the uniqueness of Gaya which draws thousands of people from all parts of India.