Down The Memory Lane Celebrating Vishu, A Kerala festival & A Virtual Glimpse Into The Backwaters Of Alleppey, Kerala.

To start your Slide show , Click on the picture below.

A couple of days back, I received a comment from someone saying that he/she is a regular reader of my blog. I felt very happy at the fact that I do have some regular readers and some ghost readers, though I started my blog hardly 2 ½ months back. But I dread the day when someone comes saying that I am a "prisoner of the past" as my rambling and musings occupy more space than my recipes and hence, better change the title from Mishmash! to Nostalgia! or as my dear friend LJ puts it Nosti ! ;-) So if someone is contemplating on the above-mentioned suggestion, then I have only one thing to say, I don’t mind being a prisoner of the past if the imprisonment is with some sweet memories :)

Whenever the festival season arrives, I get swallowed up in the whirlwinds of nostalgia and today was one such day, Vishu, a festival of Kerala and is considered beginning of a New Year even though it is not the first day in Malayalam Calendar. Last two days, I have been thinking about my childhood days and the picture of my grandfather’s house kept flashing in my mind as we used to be there during most of the festival season; A big house, our Tharavadu (ancestral home) in an extra-ordinary large plot with lots of coconut trees, mango trees, jackfruit trees and much more..In the front yard, there was a Jambakka tree and during the time of Vishu, the tree was illuminated with its own jambakka fruits, and the most splendid sight was that of the fully bloomed Kani Konna (Cassia Fistula/Indian laburnum), a golden yellow flower which is a must-have in the Vishu Kani, the most important ritual on a Vishu morning and it used to appear like a ‘golden shower’ as the Konnappoo ( flowers of Cassia Fistula) fell when the winds touched ‘em gently :)

My grandfather’s house had a couple of maids (Yes, that’s an Indian luxury!!) to help us in the outdoor chores and I remember how they used to clean up the yard and burn all the dry leaves and branches as the day before Vishu is called Sankranthi and cleaning up is part of the tradition. As kids, all our cousins used to be high spirited as we got new clothes during the festival time as well as got to burst the crackers and sometimes we started this one week in advance :) The night before the festival, my aunts made arrangements for preparing the Vishu kani, the most important ritual of Vishu, which literally means the first thing that you see or a good omen and it is based on the traditional belief that since Vishu marks the beginning of a new year, one is supposed to see good things which will bring prosperity and fortunes in the whole year. So my aunts used all the brass metal cleaning liquids and made the Uruli, a wide mouthed bell metal vessel shine like gold and then it was filled with grains and topped with traditional vegetables like a golden cucumber,mangoes, jackfruit, banana, pumpkin, a halved coconut containing oil and a wick to be lit in the morning, a mirror and some silver coins and gold ornaments on a traditional Kerala saree (as shown in the picture) and this was placed in front of a garlanded statue of Lord Krishna. Early morning on Vishu, one of my aunts would get up around 5 am to light up the lamp, to view the Kani, which is the abundance and prosperity of nature and then she used to wake up others in the household and led them blindfolded to the place where Kani was kept. Special instructions were given to all small kids not to open their eyes and have a sneak peak at the things around them :) And then followed the most luring tradition of the season, 'Vishu Kaineettam’ (a handsel) given by our grandfather and it used to be new shining silver coins. To be frank, we were a bunch of greedy kids and hence were interested in receiving some currency rather than coins and all those uncles and aunts who used to give currencies, used to be our favorite aunts & uncles ;-) We used to spend all that money for buying more crackers :)

After seeing the Vishu Kani, for us kids it used to be fun time with crackers again and my mother and aunts used to hit the kitchen to prepare Sadya, a grand feast, a vegetarian meal served on a banana leaf. And I remember my father saying that when my grand mother was there, she used to prepare 'Vishu Katta and Manga Curry' ( A rice dish with Mango curry) for breakfast but I 've never tasted that and don't recollect anyone making it when we were kids. Anyway, the most interesting conversations and gossips took place at this time in and around kitchen..I still remember how two of my aunts sat on the floor and grated the coconut sitting on a 'Chirava', a wooden seat attached with serrated blade for scrapping the coconut, (the main ingredient in most of the dishes prepared for Sadya) and exchanging stories, a euphemism for gossiping, about relatives and marriage proposals and all related stories ..and two in the other corner chopping the vegetables....another pair at the kitchen doing the main cooking.....and there were some who used to be the motivators...Now one of you might be wondering how big our family is...indeed big enough for an army battalion! My father had 9-10 siblings and all their spouses and kids and these days a dozen grand kids too!! By noon, Sadya was made ready and I remember my father and uncles going into the backyard to cut the fresh banana leaves and in those days we were supposed to sit on the floor cross legged and eat; believe me, it is a fat man's as well as tall man's agony. I used to hate sitting on the floor cross legged as I could never enjoy the feast thoroughly; I used to get pain on my thighs. And when one was going through all that pain and discomfort, one of my aunts would pop up that most annoying question, whether the banana should be served on the extreme top-left or bottom-left of the banana leaf and then there followed an exchange of opinions. Now I know what is the reason behind all those discussions as there is a specific place for each of these dishes, starting with banana chips, pickles and so on. And the food used to be heavenly with two types of desserts. After the lunch time, there was generally a lump in the activities...some hit the most cozy rooms and curled up like snakes and snored like owls....some enjoyed a movie...some were still busy 'exchanging stories' !! For us kids, it was more crackers...more crackers...and more :)

Sigh !!!! Sitting in Uncle Tom’s land, at times I rewind my memories to my enriching childhood and get lost like this.....! And hey, apart from this festivals and feast, there is one more thing which is as heavenly as this, the pristine beauty of the backwaters of Kerala ! In this post, I have shared some of the snapshots from our trip at the backwaters of Alappuzha, Kerala..gliding along the backwaters in a Kettuvallom (houseboat) .......unwinding oneself enjoying the serene beauty of the nature...floating along the coconut and palm tree fringed narrow canals...paddy fields....the locals passing by in small country boats carrying vegetables and milk for sale...men diving into the waters searching for clams & mussels...taking an interim stop to buy fresh catch of Karimeen (pearl spots ) for the day’s meal and enjoying a bottle of fresh toddy (Local liquor) .......relishing the fresh meals prepared on board with local delicacies like Meen Pollichathu, Podimeen fry (small fish fried), Kakka Erachi (Clam/mussels fry)..etc..Let me tell you, ours was quite an amazing experience and I strongly recommend a backwater trip for anyone visiting Kerala. You can hire the boat for a whole day and night and the boats are the floating version of a typical Kerala house with fully furnished bedrooms and toilets, dining room, conference halls and decks with all the modern amenities. If a trip to Kerala is not in the cards, then please take a virtual tour through my slides :) For a list of 20 MUST Do’s in Kerala, Click here.

Here’s a cyber Vishu Kani for all my readers and fellow bloggers; since mine was not a very traditional Kani, our friends R & R was generous enough to share a picture of their Kani for you all, so let me thank my friends too :)


And here’s the Sadya I prepared at home and hope you enjoy it the cyber way :)


We wish you all prosperous days ahead !

UPDATE: For Sadya recipes check out SADYA VIBHAVANGAL - Learn to make the traditional Kerala Feast- An Artist’s Edible Palette !

Luv
Shn

No part of the content ( articles, photographs, recipes) of this blog may be reproduced without my written permission.Copyright © 2007-2010 Kitchenmishmash.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.