PONGAL FESTIVAL AT FREMONT
It is a rare occasion for us to be with our son, daughter in law and grandchildren at Fremont, California! The speciality is our stay for Sankranti or the Pongal festival! We fondly go back to the celebration of Pongal in Chennai where people celebrate it grandly! Rangoli in different hues and designs deck the streets everywhere! Damsels in beautiful pattu sarees of different colours parade in streets and offer worship in temples! The sun God is propitiated for prosperity ! Sweet Pongal and milk Pongal are specially prepared and milk is heated and allowed to overflow the vessel to signify the prospect of future prosperity! Members of the family wear new clothes to celebrate the festival. It is an atmosphere of gaiety and pleasure throughout!
Sankranti or Pongal coincides with the entry of the Sun into the zodiac sign of Cancer or Makara which is why it is called Makara Sankranti! It is the harvest season when the farmers all over the state get their reward for the hard work! There is jubilation in all families! Cows and Bullock's are painted and decorated beautifully and given their rightful place for without them the farmer would be helpless! This is also the special occasion when the family's sons in law are invited and feted exclusively! The period is rather chill and filled with fog and mist as it precedes the autumn season as per the Indian calendar! Earlier, in the Dhanurmasam, the temple conducted daily worship with Vishnu Sahasra Nama and Tiruppavai pasurams offering to the Lord! Andal or Goda Kalyanam was performed on a grand scale.
New year started with a bang with bhajans and Poojas in the temple! Many temples had different programs involving the local residents! Mini concerts were conducted! A lot of Indian diaspora participated with gusto to make the events successful! Irrespective of caste, community, race and religion, people mingle and mix in all the religious and social functions here! It is a mini India here in Fremont where every Indian religious and social function is celebrated with devotion and fervour! There are a number of musicians and rasikas! There is a single family that conducts Margazhi Utsavam every year and provides snacks, lunch and dinner to all the participants and the audience!
It is the first time that we are spending our Sankranti with my son’s family at Fremont, California! The pleasure is more since my son’s in laws also have joined us! Adding to the cheerfulness is the graduation of our grandson from the University of Berkeley, California as well as grand daughter's holidays! A new member of the family and a companion has joined us this new year to our delight! He is six months old and of a mix of brown and white! He is of Akita mix and adopted from rescue shelter! Endowed with golden eyes, he is of medium large size. He belongs to mountain tribe! As it was raining continuously when he came, he is named Indra! I am referring to the puppy that came into our family this year!!!
Ever since he came into our family, life has become livelier than ever! He has become the the cynosure of our and all other eyes! He appears very docile and seems to have forgotten barking totally! That endears him to all the members of the family! Many friends come to see him specially! My grandson regularly gets up early to take him for a walk!! Sometimes my granddaughter takes him out! Every need of Indra is meticulously looked after! His food, feed, and other things are according to pet specifications carefully maintained by my grandson who is a great lover of pets! lndra has his own home, a creche where he can take rest and sleep! He has befriended all in the family and jumps on to the laps of my son and grandchildren! It's play and activity refreshes and entertains all of us! But one shortcoming of Indra is that he is unable to spot and kill the rats in the kitchen that have surfaced recently!!! We will be missing Indra very
much as we are leaving Fremont for India!
No comments:
Post a Comment