Vishu

Vishu is an auspicious festival of Kerala. It is our new year. This is a festival of joy and prosperity. Vishu is observed on the 1st day of Medam month according to the Malayalam calendar. It comes on April 14/ 15 th every year as per the Gregorian calendar.

Our Vishu Kani 2020

Vishu Kani is an important part of Vishu. Vishukkani is a traditional ritual. Vishu Kani consists of an idol or photo of Lord Krishna, a decorated ‘Uruli’- (a shallow circular bell metal vessel), and a traditional lamp (Nilavillake). In addition, it also has the following items that has raw rice, gold ornament/ coin, yellow coloured cucumber, vegetables, fruits, a mirror, betel leaves, yellow flowers- konnapoo (Cassia fistula, the state flower of Kerala), holy books like Ramayanam, Bhagavatham etc, traditional dress (kasave munde) etc. The lady sets up the kani the night before Vishu. Vishu kani is the first sight people in the house see when they wake up early in the morning on this day. The eldest lady of the house will close her eyes and come to see the kanni first and then she guides other people in the house. I like to arrange Vishu Kani every year. My daughter also likes to arrange Vishu Kani.

Elder member of the family gives kaineetam (offering money to youngsters) to everyone. We burst crackers in the morning. Everyone wears new traditional clothes.

Vishu Kanji

Ladies make Vishu kanji for breakfast. Thereafter Vishu sadhya (traditional lunch) is served. The main dish is plain boiled rice, served along with other dishes collectively called Kootan) which include curries like parippu, sambar, rasam, pulisseri and others like kaalan, avial, thoran, olan, pachadi, kichadi, koottukari, erissery, mango pickle, pulinji, naranga achaar (lime pickle), as well as papadam, plantain chips, sharkara upperi, banana, plain curd and buttermilk and payasam.

Last year I celebrated Vishu with my parents and in-laws. This year we could not celebrate properly because of the Coronavirus lockdown. Usually we go to the temple to see the Vishu kani every year. This year we could not go anywhere.

We are in Pune now. I hope that next year we can celebrate Vishu well with family and friends.

My Birthday

I love celebrating my birthdays. I had always celebrated my Star birthday as per the Malayalam calendar.

It was only after my marriage that I began to celebrate my date of birth. I started cutting the cake. Before marriage, I had never cut cake on my birthday. I was born and brought up in  a village called Kattussery in Alathur, Palakkad, Kerala. Cakes were not available then.

This year my star birthday was on May 29th. Usually, I go to the temple and make sadhya for lunch. This year I couldn’t do either because of the COVID-19 lockdown.Hence,  I made veg biryani and gobi manchurian at home.

On my date of birth, we cut a chocolate crunch cake my husband purchased from Caramella’s. My daughter had asked her father to buy a chocolate cake for me. She was very excited to cut the cake.

 

After cutting the cake we took a lot of selfies. I am a selfie maniac.I don’t have many photos from my childhood. But, my sister has many. That makes me jealous. So, when I bought a smartphone, I took photos everyday.