Vishu (BH:D254)

April 14, 2012

I don't remember the last time I celebrated Vishu with family. It must have beeen 15-16 years ago. For the last few years, Vishu celebrations had been tied to skype. The most important ritual of Vishu is viewing the "kani". The composition of kani, I suppose, varies from region to region, home to home and has evolved over time. Basically, it is supposed to be a sample of the prosperity. So there is the "uruli" vessel filled representative fruits and veggies, some money and the golden laburnum flowers. The patron god of the festival is Krishna with his penchant for yellow. The metal polished "Aranmula" mirror is also frequently used in the kani. The kani is supposed to be the first thing one should see on Vishu day.

Till last year, Amma used to come on skype during the early evening hours in Texas, on Vishu day and add me to her 'kani' viewing. This morning, she could wake me up. 

The other important ritual of Vishu that kids particularly enjoy is the money gifting called "kaineetam". Grand book purchase plans used to be made during school days in anticipation of the upcoming 'Kaineetam' hauls since Vishu falls during summer school vacation period.

Nandu, the neighborhood little dude, had been doing similar calculations. But he has non-book shopping in mind. He received his school textbooks for next academic year last week. I asked to see his science textbook. The NCERT CBSE textbooks have come a long way, at least based on this scientific sample. The multicolored, liberally spaced lay out with plenty of illustrations is a welcome change from our school days. I buried my nose deep into the book for that new textbook smell. Nandu could relate. "English textbooks smells the best!" he said.

The ritual of "Vayarukanikkal" (viewing the tummy) associated with my sister's pregnancy keeps bringing virtually inexhaustible amount of goodies to the house. This has led to my "Vayaruchadikkal" i.e. the return of my signature beer belly that I had manage to shake off just a couple of months ago. It takes a lot of self control to stay away from a refrigerator and kitchen stocked with puffs, cutlets, halwa, jelabi, laddoos, mysore pak and more!

Folk Song concert in the evening at Vyllopilli Samsriki Bhavan. It rained for a few minutes while I was walking to the venue. Not enough rain to cool the night though. But the music was more than enough to recharge the soul. A perfect evening for the Vishu day.

The Chempakassery Nadan Kala Samithi (Folk Arts Society) is from Ambalapuzha. The show kicked off with an invokation of Krishna. Folk songs of Kerala mostly reflect the life of the poor and downtrodden farmers. They are intensely social. The chorus is absolutely integral. Though 'chenda', other percussion and jingle instruments are used, it is the chorus that sets and maintains the rhythm. The songs are invariably rendered as couplets by the lead singer immediately followed by the chorus. Rajesh Thottapally who played the chenda was brilliant using his bare hands most of the time instead of the traditional 'kol' sticks to play.

The first song was a collection of syllables set to a rhythm. This was accompanied by a scintillating "Mudiyattam" dance by Lakshmi Karunakaran and Omana Purushan. Mudiyattam or hair dance puts any of the head banging rock bands to shame. The women sway and swirl their abundant heads of healthy, long black hair let loose to the music. While shaking and turning heads for maximum, they also rhythmically move up and down the stage in a line with their hands assuming different postures like the namaste.

When the Mudiyattam was going on, I noticed the youngest member of the group, a man barely out of his teens in a blue 'kurta' and jeans a few inches too long. He appeared rather shy. I was happily mistaken. He took over for the next song called "Chenganooraadi" which is an entertaining story in song form. With a deep, energetic voice, Ranjith is a successor in making for the star of folk songs in the state, actor Kalabhavan Mani. Later in the show, he sang a "Mayilpattu Kalipattu" which got the audience clapping along. 

When the show started, there were more people on the stage than in the audience. Probably because of the Vishu feast induced lethargy, the audience swelled to 30-35 only 45 minutes into the show. Lakshmi Karunakaran, the wife of the troupe leader, the grey haired balding wiry Mr. Karunakaran, is the superstar of the troupe. She sang most songs in the evening in a captivating voice that was both soft and strong. Her gestures and movement of stage revealed how much she enjoyed performing. She kept reminding me of famous veteran Tamil folk singer/actor Paravai Muniyamma. 

Lakshmi and her husband enacted a tragic song about a low caste slave woman forced to work in the landlord's field. He refuses her permission to feed her few days old baby and the baby is dead by the end of the work day. Memories of a shameful past of the land preserved through song. The folk songs were mostly work songs, folk stories or list keeping informative ones that usually take a Q&A format. A "thiruvathira" song usually associated with Onam festival and a Vanchipattu (rowing song) were presented converted to folk song style. A couple of popular ones like "Ninne kaanan enne kalum" were also rendered. 

One thing that struck me was the high status attached to South, the direction, in the songs. Good news, great folks, prosperity, relationships etc were all expected to come from the South. A welcome change from the north-bound attitude that creeps into us thanks to the N on top maps, I guess. During the middle ages, East used to be on top giving us the "to orient" phrase. But the north bias has become so deep seated that the beautiful "Blue Marble" photo of our planet from space has been reversed from original to get north on top. 

Though I have seen deliberate reverse maps, mostly originating from Australia, I had never known a cultural south bias and that too so close to home, till today. A good thing to know on a Vishu day of new beginnings.