My earliest memories are of watching my two maternal aunts do large elaborate kolams on our sprawling porch in the house of my maternal grandparents... These were of so many types- the pulli kolam (dots are placed in some predetermined order ans lines are drawn to either connet them or to wiggle around the dots) ther kolam (chariot kolam on the Pongal day for the sun), manai kolam, and just creative kolams.. On a regular day this used to be drawn with kolam powder on the outside of the house and with rice powder in the pooja room..
On special and festive occassions, it was a maa kolam- rice soaked in water and wet ground to a slightly watery consistency and guided on the floor with a small cloth to draw the kolam.
On tuesdays, Fridays and festival days, the kolams were given a border of maroon color by mixing pure red soil with water and applying it with an old toothbrush or coconut husk.
Apart from my aunts, we had a servant maid by name Muniyamma.. she was a pro at Kolams.. Tall and lean lady... used to come at 5.30 in the morning, sprinkle water on the drive way and sweep it off and draw such beautiful kolams- ranging from a 3x3 dot matrix to NxN matrix.. she was so deft and fast and her strokes were just impeccable- I was in my 5th or 6th grade around that time- i used to sit up with her, watching her draw the kolams- and used to draw them down in my Kolam notebook religiously everyday... and on days when she would play truant, I would try and draw the kolams on our driveway... it was a delight to do that....
The Hindu culture is kind of funny sometimes... On the 13th day after a person's death, it is called Subhasweekaranam- or embracing auspiciousness again sfter the mourning days.. On this day, elaborate kolams are drawn and Poojas done in the household for happiness and prosperity to stay... When one of my old paternal uncles passed away, on the 13th day, we had ultimate fun doing the kolam (please dont think I am insensitive- i was in my 7th grade then.. a little girl you see). My dad's two sisters and the wife of my dad's younger brother (the aunt who arranged for the Jutka ride- read my other blog) , myself , my sister and two cousins- we swept and mopped the floor and then my aunt did a huge elaborate kolam.. This was a dotless kolam- complete symmetry and absolutely beautiful... in my mind my respect and admiration fot this aunt sky rocketed... and stays there till this day...
After me moved to a different house, it became my duty to do the morning kolam on the threshold of our house every day.. I hunted down Kolam designs from anywhere and everywhere.. The apartment complex we live in has many oldish ladies.. they used to like my kolams and always appreciated me on their way through our house.
On special occassions like diwali, Pongal, Navarathri etc. I would want to do a BIG kolam outside the compound, the previous night- so my dad would come and stand guard while I drew the Kolam engrossed in it.. expanding it more and more and more till I had no space... here i have to make very special mention of my mother.. She is an expert in Kolam drawing in her own right, but seldom had time to pursue it because of family pressures.. However, in my early Kolam days, whenever I would goof up a so called "modern art" kolam, amma was always there to the rescue.. With a few strokes here and there, she would change the fate of the Kolam and expand it into a huge beautiful Kolam... doing something right first time may be a talent.. but correcting something goofed up and converting it into a beauty to behold is a talent very few people have.. my mother is one of them....
These days my husband stands guard when I do the Kolams... even during my short stint in the USA, I used to do the Kolam everyday.. of course I had a lurking fear in my mind that the next door neighbor may mistake my innocuous hobby for some sort of witchcraft.. but to my surprise.. she saw me drawing the Kolam one day, and smiled at me and sadi something nice.. and in knew all was well...
While Rangoli, the colorful North indian counterpart of the humble white Kolam is also very beautiful to see. nothing like the while kolam against the red of a red oxide flooring of the older model houses of south India...
Till date I do the Kolam anywhere and everywhere I get the chance and I love doing it... God bless the Kolam and whoever invented the art!!!!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
The day I learnt to read time off a watch....
I vividly remember that day in my life when the mystery of the hour and minute hands of the timepiece invention was laid bare before my eyes....
I was in the third standard in school then...My uncle had come to visit us from Delhi and had bought for me and my sister our first real watches- a colorful Citizen ladies' wrist watch..We were very excited...and wanted to wear it to school the very next day to show it off to friends.. Now there was only one catch to this lofty desire... I had no clue whatsoever as to how to read time off the watch!!!
Anyway.. after much thought I did wear it to school the next day... Every day, the second hour in the morning was mathematics, and we had a wonderful teacher by the name Ms.Shanthi.. I owe all my expertise at multiplication tables to her, for each and every day she made our class write the multiplication tables from 2 through 16, as soon as the day's portion of teaching was over.. But for her, I would have NEVER got my basics right...
Now on this particular day, as soon as the day's teaching was over and we students were preparing to start writing the multiplication tables, I furtively approached her.. with the maths class work copy in my hand as if to get my work corrected (lest ther rest of my classmates come to know that I do not know to read time), and softly asked her "Miss can I ask you one thing?" and she said "Yes what is it?". I showed her my new watch and said "Miss how to tell the time by looking at the watch?". Then she explained the mystery to me.. she said ," This watch has numbers 1 to 12" Look at the hour hand- the small hand- if it is aligned with any of the numbers between 1 and 12 , say 8,and the minute hand- the long hand is aligned with 12, then the time is 8 o clock. Suppose the hour hand is between two numbers ,then take the lower of the two numbers as the correct hour. Then look at the minute hand. If it is exactly pointing to some particular number, then multiply that number by 5 and that number will represent the number of minutes past the particular hour. Finally if hour hand is between two numbers and minute hand is also between two numbers, then take the hour to be the number before the hour hand; then see which number the minute hand has crossed, and multiply it by five and to this add the number of small lines that the minute hand has crossed after that number. she gave me a couple of exercises on my home work notebook right there and made sure "I had understood what she had just explained,, I was soooo thrilled!!! After the newly acquired "expertise" nobody coule stop me from wearing my watch..
It is possible I was too late to learn this basic skill.. may be I was too fast..but the end result was I did understand!!!
Today, much to my amusement and nostalgia, I saw my sister teaching her two and a half year old son how to read time off a watch ( and that guy was getting it too!!!) and I said to myself "Today's kids are so smart.. and so fast!!", and just could not resist the urge to write about my own memoirs of understanding this great "skill"....
I was in the third standard in school then...My uncle had come to visit us from Delhi and had bought for me and my sister our first real watches- a colorful Citizen ladies' wrist watch..We were very excited...and wanted to wear it to school the very next day to show it off to friends.. Now there was only one catch to this lofty desire... I had no clue whatsoever as to how to read time off the watch!!!
Anyway.. after much thought I did wear it to school the next day... Every day, the second hour in the morning was mathematics, and we had a wonderful teacher by the name Ms.Shanthi.. I owe all my expertise at multiplication tables to her, for each and every day she made our class write the multiplication tables from 2 through 16, as soon as the day's portion of teaching was over.. But for her, I would have NEVER got my basics right...
Now on this particular day, as soon as the day's teaching was over and we students were preparing to start writing the multiplication tables, I furtively approached her.. with the maths class work copy in my hand as if to get my work corrected (lest ther rest of my classmates come to know that I do not know to read time), and softly asked her "Miss can I ask you one thing?" and she said "Yes what is it?". I showed her my new watch and said "Miss how to tell the time by looking at the watch?". Then she explained the mystery to me.. she said ," This watch has numbers 1 to 12" Look at the hour hand- the small hand- if it is aligned with any of the numbers between 1 and 12 , say 8,and the minute hand- the long hand is aligned with 12, then the time is 8 o clock. Suppose the hour hand is between two numbers ,then take the lower of the two numbers as the correct hour. Then look at the minute hand. If it is exactly pointing to some particular number, then multiply that number by 5 and that number will represent the number of minutes past the particular hour. Finally if hour hand is between two numbers and minute hand is also between two numbers, then take the hour to be the number before the hour hand; then see which number the minute hand has crossed, and multiply it by five and to this add the number of small lines that the minute hand has crossed after that number. she gave me a couple of exercises on my home work notebook right there and made sure "I had understood what she had just explained,, I was soooo thrilled!!! After the newly acquired "expertise" nobody coule stop me from wearing my watch..
It is possible I was too late to learn this basic skill.. may be I was too fast..but the end result was I did understand!!!
Today, much to my amusement and nostalgia, I saw my sister teaching her two and a half year old son how to read time off a watch ( and that guy was getting it too!!!) and I said to myself "Today's kids are so smart.. and so fast!!", and just could not resist the urge to write about my own memoirs of understanding this great "skill"....
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Pavadai Chattai mania
The other day, I saw a featured article in the supplementary of a popular newspaper, about a music school called Balabrundam.. and I was so ecstatic to see that the lady who ran the school insisted that young girls wear pavadai chattai. Again I could not help wandering into the alleys of Nostalgia..
My very first Pavadai chattai was the Pattu Pavadai chattai my parents stitched for me when I was some 3 years old. The speciality of the Pavadais that were stitched in those days was that, they would provide enough cloth for the Pavadai to be worn for at least the next 10 years in the girls life.... Then the next PAvadai was the one we (me and my sister) got from my aunty- a regular cotton Pavadai with matching chattai. Again this served a long innings...
After a period of Haitus, the next Pavadai came when I was 8-9 years old- we went to the big Bombay dyeing showroom to buy the material- me, my sister, uncle, aunt everyone- mine was a deep violet with small motifs- with 2 chattais- one matching and one contrasting.. my sister's was a nice maroon with eggplaant flower motif all over- again 2 chattais... The speciality of this PAvadai was that by now our Pavadai had graduated from the Pavadai with an attached white vest to the pavadai with a string running all aound the circumference- only little girls wore the former type, while bigger girls wore the latter type all the way until they begin wearing sarees..
A note worthy point about this Pavadai was that I would insist that I tuck in my chattai into the pavadai like wearing a formal shirt with trousers.. even my teacher in school tried to tell me this was not really the conventional way of wearing a Pavadai chattai... but stubborn me, i would not change till I myself KNOW that this was not the right way.. this happened another 2 years later... Anyway, this Pavadai lasted for another 5 years..
The next one was again a Bombay Dyeing material- a vibrant green cotton one for each of us- me and my sister- I loved that PAvadai and adored it to no end.. By now I was in eighth grade... an age when one wants to flaunt ones good looks.. On Saturdays, when we were allowed to wear color dresses to school, my frequent outfit was this PAvadai chattai, hair freshly washed in Reetha and worn in the typical Kerala style, with a string of fragrant jasmine tucked in, an asoortment of colored bangles on each hand, and a bright young cheerful face!!!! what a beauty.. I was so fond of this PAvadai that when I finally outgrew it, I did not have the heart to part with it.. so I made my tailor open up the seams and restitch it into a Salwar Kurtha, which was in service for about 2-3 years...
By now, one silk saree from my paternal granma's treasured collection metamorphosed into PAvadai chattais for me and my sister. It was a mustard and black small checks pattern with a deep purple border.. It was an instant hit with everyone, for the different style in a time when plain silk Pavadai with contrasting border was the order of the day.
In the interim when I was in ninth grade, my aunt bought us two sets of Polyester Pavadais, which I still have in the form of a restitched Kurtha... And then as is custom in Indian Hindu families, I got my next Pattu Pavadai from my parents when I officially became an adult.and what a lot of running around we did to get it stitched right!!!! And yet another Synthetic Pavadai came as a gift from an uncle.. All these were the string type PAvadai, so when I graduated to the Pavadai Dhavani style (also called the half-saree), all I had to do was to stitch myself a matching blouse and buy the half saree length and Viola!! we have a new style!!!
During all the cultural fests in school when I was an active member of the Prayer, Sloka and drama groups, I would wear one of my Pavadais in half saree style as was our formal attire and have my hair worn in a long single plait, lots of bangles, flowers, anklets, the "nethi-chutti" etc. What a great feeling it would give us!!!!
Needless to say all family functions, marriages etc. saw all the girls in the family in Pavadais in styles suiting their age-the vested one for little girls, the stringed one for slightly bigger girls and the half saree type for the adolescents.
I am quite disappointed that my sister as well as my husband's brother- both have sons- no daughters... for I would have loved to adorn them in Pavadai chattai..
Today, the Pavadai Chattai has undergone a style change- it has been fused with the Ghaghra style of the North, and comes in a lot more variety and in beautiful colors and styles.. Sadly, today's young girls think it is "uncool" to be seen sporting a Pavadai chattai...which pains me a lot...
Some day, the Pavadai chattai will make a comeback with a BIG bang, and you know who is going to be the happiest person that day... That will be ME!!!!!
My very first Pavadai chattai was the Pattu Pavadai chattai my parents stitched for me when I was some 3 years old. The speciality of the Pavadais that were stitched in those days was that, they would provide enough cloth for the Pavadai to be worn for at least the next 10 years in the girls life.... Then the next PAvadai was the one we (me and my sister) got from my aunty- a regular cotton Pavadai with matching chattai. Again this served a long innings...
After a period of Haitus, the next Pavadai came when I was 8-9 years old- we went to the big Bombay dyeing showroom to buy the material- me, my sister, uncle, aunt everyone- mine was a deep violet with small motifs- with 2 chattais- one matching and one contrasting.. my sister's was a nice maroon with eggplaant flower motif all over- again 2 chattais... The speciality of this PAvadai was that by now our Pavadai had graduated from the Pavadai with an attached white vest to the pavadai with a string running all aound the circumference- only little girls wore the former type, while bigger girls wore the latter type all the way until they begin wearing sarees..
A note worthy point about this Pavadai was that I would insist that I tuck in my chattai into the pavadai like wearing a formal shirt with trousers.. even my teacher in school tried to tell me this was not really the conventional way of wearing a Pavadai chattai... but stubborn me, i would not change till I myself KNOW that this was not the right way.. this happened another 2 years later... Anyway, this Pavadai lasted for another 5 years..
The next one was again a Bombay Dyeing material- a vibrant green cotton one for each of us- me and my sister- I loved that PAvadai and adored it to no end.. By now I was in eighth grade... an age when one wants to flaunt ones good looks.. On Saturdays, when we were allowed to wear color dresses to school, my frequent outfit was this PAvadai chattai, hair freshly washed in Reetha and worn in the typical Kerala style, with a string of fragrant jasmine tucked in, an asoortment of colored bangles on each hand, and a bright young cheerful face!!!! what a beauty.. I was so fond of this PAvadai that when I finally outgrew it, I did not have the heart to part with it.. so I made my tailor open up the seams and restitch it into a Salwar Kurtha, which was in service for about 2-3 years...
By now, one silk saree from my paternal granma's treasured collection metamorphosed into PAvadai chattais for me and my sister. It was a mustard and black small checks pattern with a deep purple border.. It was an instant hit with everyone, for the different style in a time when plain silk Pavadai with contrasting border was the order of the day.
In the interim when I was in ninth grade, my aunt bought us two sets of Polyester Pavadais, which I still have in the form of a restitched Kurtha... And then as is custom in Indian Hindu families, I got my next Pattu Pavadai from my parents when I officially became an adult.and what a lot of running around we did to get it stitched right!!!! And yet another Synthetic Pavadai came as a gift from an uncle.. All these were the string type PAvadai, so when I graduated to the Pavadai Dhavani style (also called the half-saree), all I had to do was to stitch myself a matching blouse and buy the half saree length and Viola!! we have a new style!!!
During all the cultural fests in school when I was an active member of the Prayer, Sloka and drama groups, I would wear one of my Pavadais in half saree style as was our formal attire and have my hair worn in a long single plait, lots of bangles, flowers, anklets, the "nethi-chutti" etc. What a great feeling it would give us!!!!
Needless to say all family functions, marriages etc. saw all the girls in the family in Pavadais in styles suiting their age-the vested one for little girls, the stringed one for slightly bigger girls and the half saree type for the adolescents.
I am quite disappointed that my sister as well as my husband's brother- both have sons- no daughters... for I would have loved to adorn them in Pavadai chattai..
Today, the Pavadai Chattai has undergone a style change- it has been fused with the Ghaghra style of the North, and comes in a lot more variety and in beautiful colors and styles.. Sadly, today's young girls think it is "uncool" to be seen sporting a Pavadai chattai...which pains me a lot...
Some day, the Pavadai chattai will make a comeback with a BIG bang, and you know who is going to be the happiest person that day... That will be ME!!!!!
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