Pongal-o-Pongal

Thai Pongal is an occasion for family re-unions and get-together. Old enmities, personal animosities and rivalries are forgotten. Estrangements are healed and reconciliation effected. Indeed, Thai Pongal is a festival of freedom, peace, unity and compassion crystallized in the last hymn on unity in the Indian spiritual text the Rig Veda. Thus, love and peace are the central theme of Thai Pongal. Thai Pongal is celebrated on the first day of the month Thai of the Tamil calendar. The day normally falls between 12th and 15th of the month of January in the Christian calendar. Thus, Thai is the first month of the Tamil Almanac, and Pongal is a dish of sweet concoction of rice, moong dal, jaggery and milk. This festival is celebrated by one and all as it is non-relevance to any particular religious faith. The whole Tamil population of the world celebrate it without any differences. Therefore it is widely known as “Tamil Thai Pongal” or the “Festival of the Tamils”. The Tamil festival of Thai Pongal is a thanks giving ceremony in which the farmers celebrate the event to thank the spirits of nature, the Sun and the farm animals for their assistance in providing a successful harvest. The rest of the people celebrate the festival to pay their thanks to the farmers for the production of food. Overall, it is a festival to encourage social cohesiveness and unite people by bringing them together in a common function. There are many songs about Thai Pongal and there is much Tamil literature about it. Thai Pongal generally includes customs & celebrations that are the ex-pression of jubilation over life’s renewal. On Thai Pongal, our family begins the day early. Every member of the family gets up early in the morning, bathes, puts on new clothes and gathers in the front of the garden to cook the traditional Pongal (rice pudding). The front garden is pre-prepared for this ceremonious cooking. A flat square pitch is made and decorated with kolam, and it is exposed to the direct sun light. A fire wood hearth will be set up. The cooking begins by putting a pot with water on the hearth. My grand mother being the senior member of the family conducts the cooking and the rest of the family dutifully assists her and the kids watch the event. When the water has boiled the rice is put into the pot – after my grand mother the family ceremoniously puts three handful of rice in first. The other ingredients of this special dish are vellam(jaggery), grated coconut, roasted green gram (payaru), raisins, cashew nuts and few pods of cardamom. When the meal is ready it is first put on a banana leaf and the family pray for few minutes to thank the nature sprit, the sun and farmers. Then the meal (Pongal) is served with fruits (banana and mango) among the family. Later it will be shared with neighbors, friends and relatives. Although every household makes the food, sharing each others ‘Pongal’ is the one of the important features of the event. Some Hindu scholars believe that the rice is ceremoniously cooked on the Thai Pongal day because of its importance as a potent symbol of auspiciousness and fertility. The evenings are spent in visiting relatives and friends followed by a late night movie with folks for the latest flicks released for the season. Now that I am so far away from home I am missing each and every bit of being around with family and friends but nevertheless I know I will be home one day to be a part of the same family saying.......
Pongal-o-Pongal !!!