Beautiful holiday times...

I was watching a television talk show where people were arguing what kind of life is better- a slow & steady one or a fast & active one? The topic got so digressed that people got into a word play between laziness,patience,haste and carelessness rather than talking about the need of urgency vs. steadiness. Finally it turned out into a question of who enjoys life? Being slow does not mean that he/she enjoys doing it; nor a fast person means he does not enjoy his work. After all we do all these to enjoy life, aint we?

A winter morning is always beautiful, peace and calm. Cuddling under the quilt and snoozing the alarm every 10 mins, getting up in sunlight, sipping an aromatic Nescafe which sure is 'the Taste that gets you started up; the Taste that gets you going on'...wow wow...If you are a fan of Carnatic music, MS Subbulakshmi's melancholious suprabatham will sure brighten up your day. This reminds me of my childhood holidays in the month of Marghazhi (December) which is a winter, getting awakened by the aroma of Pongal which mom cooks,running in curiousity to look at her beautiful and geometrically proportioned Rangoli (when measured will be a perfect symmetry), listening to bhajans in the temple and arguing with mom that my late morning bath should not be a breakfast stopper/delayer...sweet calls  of cuckoos, moo moos of calves, dad's pooja bells, divine smell of incense sticks, visiting Ganesh ji 's temple by the side of rippling river...you should be there to enjoy it!

Like Thanksgiving,Christmas and New Year, beginning of Marghazi is the official start of Tamil festival season. Our village carnival starts with Cart festival (Therottam) which is a trade season with all kinds of sweet stalls, balloons, music & lights, sugarcane juice, merry-go rounds & giant wheels, bangles and other jewellery, melodious music concerts... the big temple has about 20-30 popular deities who are brought out of their sanctum for a village tour during those 10 days of festival. The deities are taken out in chariots with beautiful flower arrangements which not only please the eyes but also attracts by the fragrance.

After the 10 days of carnival, comes Pongal, which is a Thanksgiving of Tamil people where they thank God and request his blessings for the harvest season which is coming ahead. Family get togethers, everyday pooja, variety of food...hmm I miss them!