"Aaiiiii," Mahamaya came home from school, grinning. Her hazel eyes shined with mirth as her brown hair shone golden in the sunlight. Her pink cheeks formed little dimples, following her smile.

Indrayani smiled and said in a sing song voice, "Yes, Maya."

Mahamaya giggled and exclaimed happily, "My friends said that I'm the most beautiful girl in the group."

Indrayani's smile dropped a little as she explained, "Tell them that the real beauty lies inward."

Mahamaya stopped, in awe as she said enthusiastically, "I will but can I have a snack first, Aai?"

Indrayani smiled and said, "Sure but after we are done thanking God for the food on our plates. It's almost sunset now, time to lighten the lamp and worship God."

Mahamaya nodded, holding her mother's hand as the mother daughter duo went to the kitchen where a miniature temple was kept. It had Murtis (idols) of deities like Ganesha (God of knowledge known to have an elephant head, a popular God in Maharashtra, son of Shiva the destroyer deity), Goddess Lakshmi (Goddess of prosperity and wealth, wife of Sri Vishnu the preserver deity), Goddess Saraswati (Goddess of knowledge, wife of Brahma the creator deity), Durga Ma (ferocious form of Parvati who is wife of Shiva the destroyer deity), Annapurna Ma (Goddess of food, another form of Parvati the wife of Shiva the destroyer deity), a pentagon shaped brass sheet with Bijasni Mata, their family Goddess carved on it (Goddess Bijasni is a form of Yogamaya, when Shakti is one with Shiva the destroyer deity), a Shivalingam (symbol of Shiva the destroyer deity) with a Naag (snake, particularly Vasuki Naag, it is shown wrapped around Shiva's neck) coiled around the Shivalingam and a bull (Nandi, ride of Shiva) in front of the Shivalingam.

Indrayani had explained to her daughter that she should either keep no Shivalingam in her home or a Shivalingam that had the Naag and Nandi with it because without them, the God of destruction was too energetic. Having them helped balance out his energy.

Both of them started with the song of Ganesha, son of Shiva the destroyer deity, praising him as they went on to sing praising songs for Shiva, Durga Ma and Sri Vishnu before ending their worship with a song of Ganesha again. Shiva had given the boon to his son Ganesha that he would be worshipped first and worshipping any other God would be like disrespecting the boon and thus disrespecting Shiva himself.

After they were done, they ended their worship with a famous Marathi hymn, written by Ramdas Swami. Ramdas Swami was a known sage of the bhakti movement who used to worship specifically Hanuman and Sri Rama, both reincarnations of Shiva the destroyer deity and Sri Vishnu the preserver deity respectfully. Sri is a title used before Sri Vishnu or his incarnations. Ramdas Swami was one of the Saints who opposed the rigid caste system of the era and he was spiritual teacher of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a young boy who went on to establish a strong Maratha Kingdom.

"Sadaa sarvadaa yog tujha ghadava,
Tujhe karani deha majha padava,
Upekshu naka gunvanta ananta
Raghunayaka magane hech aata|

Morya Morya mi baal taanhe
Tujhich seva Karukaaya jaane
Anyaay majhe kotyana koti
Moreshwara tu ghal poti||

Jai Jai Raghuveer Samarth
Gurudev Dutta"

(I hope your plans work out forever
Let my body fall for you
Don't be upset because of my mistakes
Sri Ram, this is my only request from you.

Ganesha Ganesha I'm like a thirsty child
I want to keep serving you
Injustices done by me might be in crores (millions)
Please swallow them and keep them in your big stomach.

Hail Sri Ram
Gurudev Dutta (Duttatreya Maharaj)"

(I only know the meaning of the first stanza correctly. I don't know about the second stanza and it wasn't online either. I wrote what I could make out as a Marathi person. If anybody wants to correct me, they can.)

Both the mother and daughter said, feeling peaceful after their worship. They both were transfixed. The ending verses always gave them peace.

Both the parents had given extra attention to make sure that their daughter knew of the Indian culture, especially of their Marathi culture.

Mahesh and Indrayani both were Marathas. Of course they would teach their daughter beautiful verses of Ramdas Swami along with verses from other famous saints from the bhakti movement. Ramdas Swami's verses would end with taking the name of Sri Rama and Guru or guider/teacher Duttatreya Maharaj.

Bhakti movement was like a revolution in the Indian subcontinent which focused more on devotion than on the caste system. It enabled people to visit temple despite their castes to the point that anyone from any caste could be a Pandit Ji, temple priest, as long as they had the proper training, which was very difficult. The movement placed patriotism and devotion above their Hindu and caste identity.

They both were startled from their meditative minds with Mahesh using his keys to enter the apartment and exclaiming, "I'm home. Where are my favourite girls?"

The two giggled and stood up, peeking at him like mischievous girls. Mahesh looked at them, making them shriek and run, making Mahesh to tiptoe after them and find them. He found Indrayani first, hiding behind their cupboard as he tiptoed behind her and screamed in her ear, "Boo," she screamed, surprised as the couple heard giggles coming from the children's bedroom.

They both walked there to find a silhouette hiding behind a curtain. Mahesh placed a finger on his chin, acting like he was thinking as he wondered aloud, "Hmm, where would my Maya hide?"

This made her let out another giggle, before she clamped her mouth. Both of them walked near the curtain and pulled it, as Mahesh busied himself with tickling Mahamaya, earning giggles from her.

Her giggles were the most melodious sounds the couple had ever heard. Same was with her voice. It was bewitching. Her beauty would worry the couple, as they made sure to ask their daughter again and again if someone had touched her inappropriately.

Mahesh held his daughter's hand as he asked his wife, "Are the evening prayers done?"

She smiled and nodded, saying proudly, "And Maya sung all the songs. It was like she knew everything."

Mahesh felt like his chest would widen with pride. He said proudly, "Of course she would. She is my daughter and I taught her every prayer that my Aai (mother) taught me."

Mahamaya blushed, her pale cheeks turning red adoringly at the praises. Indrayani patted her head as Mahesh asked his wife, "What is the plan for dinner?"

His wife suggested, "Wadyanchi bhaaji and chapati?"

Her husband nodded approvingly. Bhaaji meant gravy, dish or something similar. Chapati was the Marathi local flat bread made of wheat. It was a softer and a slightly bigger version of Indian flatbread roti.

Mahamaya asked adorably, "Aai, which vegetable is this wade(y)?"

Indrayani and Mahesh laughed at the question, making the little girl pout.

Indrayani explained patiently, "It is not a vegetable. You see, hundred years ago, almost eighty percent of Indians were pure vegetarians, like us. How would we get proteins? So sprouts, lentils, eating flatbreads or papadums of different food grains, eating seeds like flaxseeds, fennel seeds and likewise seeds after every meal were some of the methods but poor farmers won't have access to such foods year wide. So, what they would do is when they would harvest these crops, they would keep some for their home and then they would grind all the types of lentils, add things like carom seed, turmeric, chilli powder, salt and it was made into dough and flattened before they are cut into uneven pieces and sun dried."

Mahamaya was in awe throughout the talk. She was taught again and again, never to waste even one bite of food because many people had to work hard to get that one piece of chapati (flat bread) on their plates but this conversation was like bringing her closer to the farmers' lives.

Indrayani continued, "Throughout the year when they can't buy the lentils, they can make bhaaji of this and eat. Whenever you crave anything crunchy, I deep fry either papadums or these and you love it."

Mahamaya felt satisfied after the answer before she thanked her mother, "Wow Aai, thank you for this information. I'm lucky that I'm born in a Marathi household."

Mahesh smiled and said, "This is only about Khandesh region of Maharashtra, Maya. Different families in different regions and states have staple food based on what crops they grow, their financial conditions, the type of work they do and so on. That's why there was the Verna system based on their profession so that they knew what to eat according to the needs of their profession. However, it became rigid and went on to become the caste system which was then uprooted by us. This motherland of ours is so diverse that you will need twenty lifetimes and still you wouldn't be done exploring them. The information you mother said wouldn't be found on the internet. We all are lucky to be born on such a land."

She smiled and nodded, hugging his waist. He caressed her head, pecking her forehead as they both sat and talked about how school was, if she had any doubts in school while Indrayani busied herself with preparing dinner for her family...

A/N:
Wade, because I didn't find it anywhere. Those worm like thingies in the side are wade. I didn't like it because they looked like worms so my mom told me its importance and now I can't have enough of it. That's why I thought of sharing this.