Thursday, April 14
Dearest All...
Wishing all indians celebrating today a very Happy New Year.
Well, I'll explain abit on today's value, so that the non-celebraters may understand better...
The month of Chitthirai (Mid April - Mid May) has arrived and with it the Tamil New Year's Day; April 14th, an occasion for celebration for Tamilians all over the world. Greetings of 'Puthandu Vazthukal', (Happy New Year), are exchanged with fervour on this day.
The day starts with viewing the 'kanni' (the auspicious sight) at dawn, in the expectation that beginning the New Year by looking at auspicious or favourable things will bring good fortune throughout the year. The auspicious things include, gold and silver jewellery, betel leaves, nuts, fruits and vegetables, flowers, raw rice and coconuts. This is followed by the ritual bath and a visit to the temple to pray for a prosperous and happy New Year. (Yeah, I did all these, except for the part of going to temple, instead, had to come to work :p)
April 14th also happens to be the Bengali New Year Day, Naba Barsha, which begins with the 'Prabhat Pheries' (an early morning procession) with songs and dances welcoming the New Year.
In Kerala 'Vishu' is celebrated by Malayalees commemorating the beginning of the astronomical New Year in the Malayalam Calendar. (Now this is what I celebrate....Malayalee ma?!.. Oh, and by the way, I would at this point like to clear something, we are known as Malayalees, not Malayalam. Malayalam is the language we speak. Its like Europeans speaking English...get it? Okie.)
Yeah, so I guess I wrapped up most of it. Tonight at my aunt's place there's gonna be lottsa delicious food. Sigh, and I'm gonna feel sooooooo guilty after eating it...
Cheers,
Tunitha
|8:36:00 am|
~*@GoSSiP_CoLuMN@*~