Pongal

D harvest festival,best celebrated in South India is here.And d worst ordeal for me is being a south indian away from south india.The celebrations go on here,btr widout d same magic as cam be felt down south.For d payasam ( kheer) which is traditionally supposed to be cooked on a ( sort of)bonfire,is now cooking on d gas stove and in sum un fortunate households,its nt being cooked at all!D rangoli ( called by different names in diff areas!)which,once upon a time,was made by zestful little girls in half sarees and pattu pavadai using rice powder,is now drawn,or rather sketched hastily on d floor,n in sum cases,a new ' sticker'is pasted on the floor,which gives pleasure to neither the beholder nor the person who stuck it!There is sumthin missing in d air....perhaps d smell of d wood burnin,d cuckooing of d birds,d excitement of d full family ( yes,everyone from d 90 yr old grandpa to d 9 yr old kid!)looking forward to d festivities,n nt to forget,the payasam!!!

As much as we try to bring d festivities to our homes,we fail.As much as we get up before sunrise n take a headbath,we miss the massaging of our hair using''homemade' oil by grandmothers who do d dual job of commenting and advising us on our hair conditions as well as massaging.Even though we try ( and I did try dis year,breakin d chalk rule!) n make d rangoli wid freshly grounded rice powder,it looks dull widout n e ppl steppin over it by mistake!!
This all problly dusnt make n e sense...bt n e one wid a passion for dese tttly traditional stuffwill know wat i mean.....n e way,Happy Pongal!!!