Showing posts with label kathai kathaiyam karanamam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kathai kathaiyam karanamam. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2011
Chando Chandanamo
Following up on my last post on rhymes for children, I have posted the Chando Chandanamo (as much as I remember of it) on my Kathai Kathaiyam blog. Please do send me your variations or even if you know the whole song, I'm sure I have many readers with better memories than I.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Holi
Holi is a big festival in North India since it marks the beginning of spring after the long dreary winter months.The festival is celebrated on the full moon day of Phalgun month, which this year falls on the 19th March. It once again is the celebration of the triumph of good over evil . The most important ritual of Holi is Holika dahan.The story behind this ritual is on my Kathai Kathaiyam blog.
Having spent a good number of years in South India, I was always eager to know how exactly holi was celebrated. We have only seen the holi celebrations on TV and movies and mostly the pictures showed more of hooliganism than any celebration (if you want to call drenching unsuspecting people with any liquid, a celebration, that is a different matter). Being in Jalandhar, I did not want to miss the opportunity of knowing how holi was celebrated by the people here. I approached a neighbour, who is a Haryanvi and who has spent all her life in Punjab and Haryana .
As usual she said the holi has lost all the charm in the cities with only hooliganism riding the roof. "In my mother's village, she said, there was a holika dahan at a central place. People arranged twigs and dungcakes and other combustible materials at this place. An effigy of Holika and an image of child in her lap was also kept along with the other things. All the households made a garland with replica of little stars and moon made out of cowdung. They also made some sweets for prasad. All the villagers assembled at the place where holika dahan was arranged, along with their garlands and prasad and other pooja materials. They did pooja and aarti and offered prasad and the cowdung garlands to the accumulated twigs and cowdung cake. A bonfire was lit.They sang and danced around the bonfire. The day after this was playing with colors. Originally they were playing with cowdung mixed in water and other vegetable colors made by squeezing some herbs and flowers in water. There was also this ritual by name, "laat mar". Young girls used to make a rope by twisting their duppattas and would beat young boys, who in turn would tease the girls and try to shield themselves with the help of a stick. After this they all had a sumptuous feast.
It is not a big festival for South India traditionally, however due to the cosmopolitan nature of the cities all over India, this is being celebrated in the South also these days. The day after holika dahan is the dhuli when people apply colored powder on each other as a mark of festivities and merriment. In the olden days herbal powders were used. However now a days, this has taken the form of a free for all with youngsters throwing colored water prepared with synthetic colors which lead to skin allergies. This hooligan element of this festival has taken the festival to down south also where it was not a practice to celebrate this festival earlier.
Happy Holi everyone. Play with Organic colors. Make merry!
Having spent a good number of years in South India, I was always eager to know how exactly holi was celebrated. We have only seen the holi celebrations on TV and movies and mostly the pictures showed more of hooliganism than any celebration (if you want to call drenching unsuspecting people with any liquid, a celebration, that is a different matter). Being in Jalandhar, I did not want to miss the opportunity of knowing how holi was celebrated by the people here. I approached a neighbour, who is a Haryanvi and who has spent all her life in Punjab and Haryana .
As usual she said the holi has lost all the charm in the cities with only hooliganism riding the roof. "In my mother's village, she said, there was a holika dahan at a central place. People arranged twigs and dungcakes and other combustible materials at this place. An effigy of Holika and an image of child in her lap was also kept along with the other things. All the households made a garland with replica of little stars and moon made out of cowdung. They also made some sweets for prasad. All the villagers assembled at the place where holika dahan was arranged, along with their garlands and prasad and other pooja materials. They did pooja and aarti and offered prasad and the cowdung garlands to the accumulated twigs and cowdung cake. A bonfire was lit.They sang and danced around the bonfire. The day after this was playing with colors. Originally they were playing with cowdung mixed in water and other vegetable colors made by squeezing some herbs and flowers in water. There was also this ritual by name, "laat mar". Young girls used to make a rope by twisting their duppattas and would beat young boys, who in turn would tease the girls and try to shield themselves with the help of a stick. After this they all had a sumptuous feast.
It is not a big festival for South India traditionally, however due to the cosmopolitan nature of the cities all over India, this is being celebrated in the South also these days. The day after holika dahan is the dhuli when people apply colored powder on each other as a mark of festivities and merriment. In the olden days herbal powders were used. However now a days, this has taken the form of a free for all with youngsters throwing colored water prepared with synthetic colors which lead to skin allergies. This hooligan element of this festival has taken the festival to down south also where it was not a practice to celebrate this festival earlier.
Happy Holi everyone. Play with Organic colors. Make merry!
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
The story of Narakasura
Following up on my Deepavali post, I decided to post the story of Narakasura. I have posted it on Kathai Kathaiyam. Please read and enjoy.
Friday, August 21, 2009
The story of Lord Sree Krishna's birth
To commemorate Janmashtami, I have posted the story of Lord Sree Krishna's birth on the Kathai Kathaiyam blog.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Amman Amman Ooracha
Sometime back my younger sister-in-law asked me, "Akka what is this kakkai kalile letter your brother has been saying?" When I asked my brother what it was, he said “I was telling her even if akka sends a letter tied to the leg of a crow, anna would visit her”. He was referring to my immediate younger brother who lives in the same city as I do and whenever I need him I just have to call him and he will come immediately. This is in reference to a story we were told as children.
However, whenever this kakkai kal (crow's leg) letter is referred to, I am always reminded of the close relationship shared by my grandmother (Echiyamma) and her brother (whom we used to affectionately address as Amman). My grandmother had three brothers, of whom two lived in the same village as she (Puthucode). Amman was the eldest of the three and my Echiyamma and Amman shared a special bond. She just had to think of him and he would be there. He was a great Yajurveda scholar (His name was Anantharaman but was more popularly known as Chami Vadhyar) and as such was always busy with various poojas and yagnas and often was outside Puthucode. Whenever he was in Puthucode he would definitely visit her at least once a day. Echiyamma never took a big decision until she had consulted with Amman.
I can, to this day, visualize him sitting opposite our Echiyamma in the tharamelthara (this is a raised platform in the living room where people would sit) or on the floor next to her easy chair where she would be reclining. The children would be gathered around listening to them as they had some interesting tales to share. He would narrate all that happened on his tours and she would bring him up to date with all that happened at home.
Our Amman had a great sense of humor and was very affectionate towards all of us. He would enthrall us with all the stories he had heard. He would bring back whatever was special from the places he visited. I remember once he brought a few carrots and a lemon and gave to my Athai (my paternal aunt) and told her, “grate the carrot and cut a green chilly into small bits. Mix them, sprinkle some salt and squeeze the lemon over it. It will taste delicious.” This was one of the dishes served to him at the function that he had last attended. We had not heard of carrots in Puthucode those days. Such was his affection towards his sister and her children.
As usual, I started with the story but wandered into rambling about our Amman. I will continue with more rambling about Amman at a later date perhaps. I am also reminded of this story when someone wants to say, "Chumma irukkayo, swarupathe kattattumo" (Will you shut up or do you want to see my true form?). The full story is posted on Kathai Kathaiyam Karanamam.
However, whenever this kakkai kal (crow's leg) letter is referred to, I am always reminded of the close relationship shared by my grandmother (Echiyamma) and her brother (whom we used to affectionately address as Amman). My grandmother had three brothers, of whom two lived in the same village as she (Puthucode). Amman was the eldest of the three and my Echiyamma and Amman shared a special bond. She just had to think of him and he would be there. He was a great Yajurveda scholar (His name was Anantharaman but was more popularly known as Chami Vadhyar) and as such was always busy with various poojas and yagnas and often was outside Puthucode. Whenever he was in Puthucode he would definitely visit her at least once a day. Echiyamma never took a big decision until she had consulted with Amman.
I can, to this day, visualize him sitting opposite our Echiyamma in the tharamelthara (this is a raised platform in the living room where people would sit) or on the floor next to her easy chair where she would be reclining. The children would be gathered around listening to them as they had some interesting tales to share. He would narrate all that happened on his tours and she would bring him up to date with all that happened at home.
Our Amman had a great sense of humor and was very affectionate towards all of us. He would enthrall us with all the stories he had heard. He would bring back whatever was special from the places he visited. I remember once he brought a few carrots and a lemon and gave to my Athai (my paternal aunt) and told her, “grate the carrot and cut a green chilly into small bits. Mix them, sprinkle some salt and squeeze the lemon over it. It will taste delicious.” This was one of the dishes served to him at the function that he had last attended. We had not heard of carrots in Puthucode those days. Such was his affection towards his sister and her children.
As usual, I started with the story but wandered into rambling about our Amman. I will continue with more rambling about Amman at a later date perhaps. I am also reminded of this story when someone wants to say, "Chumma irukkayo, swarupathe kattattumo" (Will you shut up or do you want to see my true form?). The full story is posted on Kathai Kathaiyam Karanamam.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Our preordained destiny
Every day we are confronted with so much violence by way of terror strikes, ghastly accidents etc that there is a general feeling of insecurity all around. Suddenly nothing seems safe. One is not sure of returning home safe at the end of the day. If you thought air travel was unsafe, train travel is no better. Even waiting at the railway station is not safe anymore. Walking on the roads has never been safe. Just yesterday there was an incident of a vehicle mowing down innocent school children in Kerala. What is happening? Where is the end to all this? Who is responsible? Is there anyway any one can help? Nobody has an answer.
In times like these, our old timers used to get strength from their strong belief in preordained destiny. Whenever things went out of our control, we heard “everything will happen as preordained.” Perhaps that way, there was not much anguish in happenings over which we had no control at all. Let us do our best to keep things under control and then “Bhagavan vitta vazhi” (as God pleases). Does it mean that God is pleased when he allows some unpleasant things to happen? The answer then is that we have to bear the fruit of our Karma. Why is God taking away a child’s life so soon, what sin has he committed at such young age? The answer is, “he is given Moksha (salvation).” He just came into this world to fulfill his remaining karma and attained moksha once he achieved that. You cannot escape karma or destiny. We were told the story of Parikshit Maharaja to illustrate the point.
No story of Parkshit or other philosophies will wipe away the grief of someone who has lost a mother or father or wife or husband or sister or brother or son or daughter. It is very hard to accept the fact that a beloved son or father or mother or daughter is not going to come in through the doors any more. And then nothing is going to bring them back. Life has to move one. We need some anchor to draw strength from however small it might be. The whole world prays for that strength.
In times like these, our old timers used to get strength from their strong belief in preordained destiny. Whenever things went out of our control, we heard “everything will happen as preordained.” Perhaps that way, there was not much anguish in happenings over which we had no control at all. Let us do our best to keep things under control and then “Bhagavan vitta vazhi” (as God pleases). Does it mean that God is pleased when he allows some unpleasant things to happen? The answer then is that we have to bear the fruit of our Karma. Why is God taking away a child’s life so soon, what sin has he committed at such young age? The answer is, “he is given Moksha (salvation).” He just came into this world to fulfill his remaining karma and attained moksha once he achieved that. You cannot escape karma or destiny. We were told the story of Parikshit Maharaja to illustrate the point.
No story of Parkshit or other philosophies will wipe away the grief of someone who has lost a mother or father or wife or husband or sister or brother or son or daughter. It is very hard to accept the fact that a beloved son or father or mother or daughter is not going to come in through the doors any more. And then nothing is going to bring them back. Life has to move one. We need some anchor to draw strength from however small it might be. The whole world prays for that strength.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Kozhukattai Story
To follow up on my recipe for Kozhukattais, here is a story about kozhukattais on my Kathai Kathaiyam website.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Aaniyum Aadiyum story
To celebrate the onset of Aani and Aadi, I have posted a story that my mother in law used to tell my children on the stories website, Kathai Kathaiyam Karanamam.
My handsome and charming son has also added a section on the sidebar to the right that keeps up to date with the latest posts on our other blogs. Justlanded in particular seems to see a lot of activity.
My handsome and charming son has also added a section on the sidebar to the right that keeps up to date with the latest posts on our other blogs. Justlanded in particular seems to see a lot of activity.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Elsewhere In The Empire
The Blandings Media Empire never sleeps. While I'm taking a break from blogging here, I've put up a new post on my stories blog. The story of two cats and a monkey and sharing everything alike is up on Kathai Kathaiyam Karanamam. Meanwhile, my handsome and charming son continues to chronicle his discoveries in India: Interesting advertisements on TV, the new Bangalore airport (messes and all), and much much more. He seems to be much more prolific than I.
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