Introduction

Hi, my name is Sabi Parikh. I am 8 years old. I am a Gujarati born in Mumbai, and I am now living in Delhi with my parents and my little 11-month-old sister, Vasuda.

When I was 4 years old, I was browsing through Amazon Prime Video for cartoons with my mom. I came across a cartoon that was about Swami Ayyappa. In the movie, a young boy Manikandan went on to become Swami Ayyaapa.

I immediately deeply related to him because:

• Manikandan was a young child, like me.
• Manikandan was on a journey of learning and practiced martial arts with his guru. I too was learning Seido Karate from my guru – Kiyoshi Hardeep.
• Manikandan did not have superhero powers. He was simply a dedicated human being who transformed into Swami Ayyappan through persistent effort.

I admired him and watched the cartoon around 50 times. I made my grandparents (Nana and Nani) watch it around 10 times. My mom found an Ayyappa temple in Saket, Delhi. When she took me there, I wore an Indian dress and carried a bow and arrow.

When I was 6, our family went on a long road trip. Throughout that trip, I sat in the car like Ayyappa with my seatbelt on. Like Swami Ayyappa, I was wearing dhotis nearly every day on that road trip. I wanted to buy a tiger and ride it to school. 

Finally, my dad arranged for it when I was 8 years old. He talked to his old South Indian friend Srinivas. There was a vrat that we had to do before going to Sabarimala. In that vrat, you have to bathe with cold water, sleep on the floor, stop eating eggs, walk barefoot, and eat very simple food.

We tried our best to do the vrat, but we were not able to do it fully. I stopped eating eggs. I also stopped eating outside food, like Natural’s ice cream and California Burrito. It is very cold in Delhi in the winter season and I had a cold just a week before the trip. Hence, my mother did not want me to bathe early in the morning in cold water. Yet I did it sometimes.

When the time came for the trip, we had to pack our bags and go. This was the first trip in which I was going with my father but without my mother, so my mother and I prepared for it as much as we could.

Preparation:

• Hair: My hair is extremely curly, wavy, and unmanageable. We decided to cut my hair to make it manageable and easy to comb and tie. My dad did not know how to tie and comb my hair, so I had to do it by myself. We carried all kinds of accessories like clips, a comb, and scrunchies.
• Clothes: It was a tradition in Kerala that girls should wear frocks. Hence, my mother bought some frocks for me. I am not very used to dresses, so this is the first time I have had a collection of dresses! My dad bought some Lungis for himself too.
• Things that comforted me: I took my favourite blanket, whose fragrance I love.
• Entertainment: I carried 2 books. One’s name is The Epoch Of Nanasaheb Peshwa, and the second is The Unstoppable Us volume 2.
• Toiletries: We carried wet wipes, tissue paper, soap, and towels as the washrooms were dirty and were not at all maintained.

I was about to finish the book The Epoch of Nanasaheb Peshwa. To celebrate finishing the book, my parents took me to the temple Trimbakeshwar near Nashik. Nanasaheb Peshwa built this temple, and is still there.

We then left Nashik and travelled to Mumbai, where my Nana Nani lives. We stayed at Nana Nani’s house till we had to meet up with our Sabarimala gang. Then when the time came to leave, we left and met with our Sabarimala gang.