Vishu! New Year for so many of us from so many parts of the country . The Saree is the traditional Kasavu from Kerala .. Simple but stylish . Soft and fine cream cotton with some sedate Zari work on the borders and Pallu .
I wear it with a brown and gold blouse and maybe the only gold jewellery I have .. My Mangal Sutra and A pair of gold and coral jhumkas I designed myself and had a local jeweller make it for me . He was in shock when I showed him the silver ones I based it on but obliged nevertheless . I don’t wear my MS every day . Nor a Bindi . Somehow my mind balks at doing what one is supposed to do ..to Show and Tell .. I am married or I am a good wife or I am a Tamilian or I am a Brahmin or whatever . I am . Period . And I don’t need to sport anything that announces or validates who or what I am . As soon as I knew I was in a place where I would not be hurting the sentiments of people who love me I shed all this stuff . I will wear or sport xyz when and if I want to !
The same with observing rituals . My religion has no rituals only love and work with which I worship . And I bow down to the power that makes the sun rise everyday , the flowers bloom and fruits ripen and birds sing .
I love the way we observe Vishu . The little tableau of fruits flowers vegetable and a few coins that we look at first thing in the morning hoping year long the munificence of Nature is with us.
Our mother would do this year after year and it is ingrained in my consciousness . Our grandfather and then our father would give us the water from the silver jar to wash our sleep filled eyes with and we would gaze into the mirror reflecting all we needed for a comfortable life . And give us the precious one rupee coin .
Thanks to technology , this year’s Kani has been beamed to children and grandchildren far away .
And I never fail to remember the emotional long distance call I made to Mom 41 years ago when I set up my first Kani in my new home with my husband