Last week in office, we were discussing Vishu. I refuse to share
Vishu with the neighboring state, Tamil Nadu! Vishu is very personal and has a
lot of beautiful memories associated with it. So it will not be shared:-)
Vishu Kani is the first thing that we see when we wake up on Vishu. I never knew when my Amma set the Kani up at night, may be long after all of us went to sleep and after all the work. From
my early childhood, I cheated with the Vishu Kani part. What else is more
beautiful than my Amma's face? So I always sneaked a peak before she gently put
me in front of the Kani. I can still feel the soft hands covering my eyes
walking towards the Kani in the front room.
Kani is an indication of the prosperity for the coming year. So it
has a lot of good stuff, starts with an idol of lord Krishna and one of my
favorite flowers Kani Konna - Indian laburnum.
As April approaches, I keep looking for Konna trees. It makes me really happy
when I see them in full bloom. I was worried that the tree in my house in Pune
wouldn't bloom in time. But she didn't let me down.
We also put rice,
pulses, the golden colour cucumber, fruits, jackfruit, coconut and mangoes.
Gold, currency notes and coins are also part of the Kani.
I used to see achan,
my father making a special trip to the bank the day before, bringing back a
small bag full of coins. These were for "kaineettam" - a small amount
given to the younger members in the family on Vishu. I remember some of the
neighbours and kids from nearby houses coming home for kaineettam. My younger
brother and I definitely wanted a little bit more money than what was given to
us. So we made an elaborate demand, in red ink nothing less, and put it on my
father's desk with a knife on it!! I really don’t know what the two of the us
were thinking! Achan had a hearty laugh and our kaineettam remained the same. Achan
had this habit of giving his entire wallet to Amma as kaineettam and he used to promptly take it back under amma’s mock protest.
My girls have inherited the same attitude on kaineettam from my brothers and me :-) The younger one promptly demands her kaineettam from the elder one!
When I call up my cousins to wish them a happy vishu, we have a standard dialogue among us. "Vishoonde appam undo"? There was a time when neyyappam, a delicacy was made on Vishu. Old women would come home asking for neyyappam !
After the kani and kaineettam,
the next important thing was bursting fire crackers. There was always a competition
among friends from the neighbourhood and school as to who burst the maximum
amount of firecrackers! Achan never believed in throwing money away and
rightfully so. So I wasn’t among the top :-)
but what I remember distinctly is that amma was very scared of fire crackers
and achan would be the hero .
I have never seen Amma
taking time off on Vishu, she would be in the kitchen the whole morning making
delicious sadya for us and then cleaning up after. This day brings the smell,
colours and taste that reminds me of her and her soft hands guiding me…
