My Pongal celebration 2017

I know it’s late by two weeks to post on Pongal, the harvesting festival of Tamils, but it’s better late than never. I think you all know about the youth revolution that took centre stage following the Pongal and though it wasn’t an easier task for people to come forward to protest for their rights and protection of bulls, the entire week was like an extension of Pongal with the voices of slogans indirectly, alongside supporting the traditional sports, emphasis the wealth of bulls and farmers. We couldn’t think of Pongal keeping away the farmer and it was farmers festival overall but we have the reason to celebrate as they are our life savers, producing food for us. Pongal festival brings happiness for farmers and Jallikattu is a part of the celebration and we got back the traditional sport in right manner.

Coming to the post, this year’s Pongal was different for me and was able to feel the mood more than latter years. Though we celebrated Pongal in the traditional way, where we lit firewood’s on the outside of the home and made Pongal (boiling of rice and milk) in the mud pot, the Pongal event conducted in our street by the backstreet boys was really uplifting. They created a friends group in name of APJ Abdul Kalam and conducted Kolam contest, running race for different age groups and couple of fun sports.  The event was started from the eve of Pongal and the Kolam contest happened at the night itself but they came to capture our Kolam (along with the others) only in the morning and we unknown who’s the winner. The boys and girls participated in the races and won gifts from the organisers and what really impressed was all showed up in traditional dresses.

But what keeps me bothering was how I missed capturing the event or at least the kids running around. The songs played in the speakers and people talking over the mike let the festival feel in the air. I put some special programs and movies on record (thanks to DTH) and moved out of the home to enjoy the festival and while things happening around; mom prepared the Pongal in the mud pot on the firewood’s and before it overflows I was with camera to capture the moment and once the rice boiled the whitest foam forms and milk is poured to restrain its flow. But it was me asked her to wait to let it overflow, though I don’t believe such thing will change things for better but this custom of overflowing keeps me going. Lol

The pot Kolam in my previous post was drawn by mom along with the above one but the coloring job for the couple of pots were given to our next door neighbour and she did it pretty colourful. We stayed awake till midnight for them to finish the Kolams, amid the troublesome mosquitoes and my cute lil friend Achu was also wakeful to give company and it was fun to be along with him. The sweet Pongal boiled in the pot was later offered to the Sun, the foremost source of energy to the entire living on earth and helps in high yield, which is a form of thanksgiving to nature and farmers who transforms the resource into edible. On Mattu Pongal, the third day of Pongal, I went for an outing on ECR and visited my great grandma’s village. I will write on it later. Follows few shots from the offering: 

The offer to energetic sun

My favorite  "ven pongal and vada"