The whole ritual is submitted to the common rules. The word reigns over the Georgian table. A tamada should undoubtedly be an eloquent and intelligent person. At the Georgian table the tamada bridges the gap between past, present & of course the future. Custom has it that not only the guests, but their ancestors & descendants are present at the table. A toast-master, the Tamada toasts all of them with the same love & devotion as the physically present members at the table. He conducts the table according to the order set by the ancestors. First of all, he must toast the hosts and wish them happiness, longevity, success and reproduction. High-flown and magic words seem to help a toast-master to establish contact with the Heaven. All wishes expressed in a toast are usually accompanied by direct appeal to God: "God! help us in all our deeds!"
One of the most important toasts is a toast devoted to the memory of deceased ancestors. having poured some wine on bread, a toast-master crosses himself and prays God to be merciful to the souls in the other world. But you shouldn't expect a toast to the deceased to grow into mysticism. Georgians consider this world & the world of the afterlife to be an indivisible entity.
When drinking some toasts all men have to stand up & drink wine in silence. A toast can be proposed only by a toast-master & the rest are to develop the idea. Everybody tries to say something more original & emotional than the previous speaker. The whole process grows into a sort of oratory contest.
The tamada arranges breaks in the eating & drinking from time-to-time. There are however special toasts which according to the ritual must be accompanied by a song or a verse. Almost everyone in Georgia has a good ear to music & good voice. Old Georgian drinking-songs are melodious, polyphonic & rather complicated. Some of them don't need any accompaniment. The choir of men creates musical background. Modern drinking-songs are usually performed to the accompaniment of a guitar or a piano.
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