Season of Joy

Picture Courtesy: Smart Canucks

Tis the season to cheer

Oh look winter is here

The blanket of white just outside

Lures me and fills me with yuletide

Tis the season to be jolly

Bring out the mistletoe and the holly

Light up the christmas tree

And watch the little faces fill with glee

The jolly old man riding his sleigh

Arrives on the eve of the big day!

The night spent sleepless in anticipation

Unwrapping the bright boxes as dawn seeps in

And soon it will be a brand new year

Forget the falls, the triumphs may you hold dear

Bidding farewell to the year past,

fresh beginnings may you usher

Newer boundaries may you conquer

Just around the bend ahead is Pongal

The traditional Indian Harvest Festival

In the dance of pure joy, clapping hands, tapping feet

Women whirl around in circles to the village beat!

Oh my there is so much color

It is indeed the season to cheer.

Remember the real celebration is to show you care

To hug, kiss and cherish all that you hold dear!

So heres wishing you every brightness and glitter

And hoping that happiness may fill the air!

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Pongal is a festival celebrated in South India. This festival is aimed at thanking the gods for a plentiful harvest.

A sweet concoction called chakara pongal is made from rice and brown sugar in a traditional earthern pot. As the pot boils over, the entire family gathers around to join in the refrain "Pongal O Pongal". Traditionally girls dance around the bon fire, singing songs in praise of the gods, the spring and the harvest. A traditional south Indian dance form called kummi (where women clap their hands and tap their feet in rhythm with the folk song with or without music) is performed. Wearing new clothes people visit temples and worship god. Another tradition is to offer Sugar Cane to God and then distribute it and eat it!

I celebrate pongal by just making the sweet - chakara pongal in a pressure cooker (european cooker). It usually occurs mid Jan.

The harvest festival in rest of India is called Shankranthi, Baisakhi (in the North - Thanks for letting us know Rayshma)

Picture Courtesy : Google Images

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