Diwali 2009
Happy Deepavali!
Archive for memories
Navrathri 2009
Before Deepavali arrives, here is my golu.
Golu 2009
Sarawathi Pooja
Step 1:
Marappachis(Wooden dolls) from Kumbakonam, Bride and groom dolls from Chennai.
Step 2:
Meenakshi Kalyanam from a friend who moved back to India
Step 3:
Dasavatharam from Madurai
Step 4:
Ajanta statues from dunno where. But at least they are 25 years old. Rasa leela Krisha set from Bangalore. The temple made by a friend. The people around temple from Coimbatore. The siva lingam and banana made of beads by my grandmom.
Step 5:
Chennapatna (from Bangaloer) dolls depicting villages. Kili Josiyam(Parrot Astrology) in the middle given by a cousin.
On the floor:
Chettiar made by a friend. Grocery items in truffle box. Veggies from Coimbatore and Singapore. The minature wooden animals from my grandmom’s golu. At least 50+ years old. The bead dolls made by my grandmom. Mr & Mrs Chettiar from Coimbatore. Wooden vessels from Madurai, Maakkal(limestone??) vessels from Thiruvanamalai gifted by UTBTkids, Brass vessels from grandmom’s golu and some from Kumbakonam. The Zen garden incense stick stand gifted by a friend.
Vaazhkkai (Life), the movie and my first stage performance
Was watching Vaazhkkai, the old tamil movie in Sun TV this week. Vyjayanthimala must have been in her teens when she acted in this movie. It was her first movie. She dances so gracefully and she looks so cute. Lalitha and Padmini have done the opening dance.(Realised that they were Lalitha/Padmini only after seeing the credits. They are so young as well.) It was a decent movie although the character Meenatchi played by Draupadi irritated me to end with the constant crying.
More than the movie, the songs brought back wonderful memories of my childhood. We played a dance/drama in school when I was in LKG. We enacted (The teachers made us enact) the story of the Foolish Lion and Clever Rabbit. And we would sing the song “un kan unnai emaatrinal en mel kobam undavadhen” once the lion gets angry seeing its reflection. Once the lion dies by jumping into the well, we would all sing “enni enni paarkombodhu ullam kondaaduthe,…. kutti muyal gettikaara thanam theriyum” in the same tune of the song “enni enni paarumbodhu ullam kondaaduthe” from this movie. Since no one would ask me what role I played, let me put it down without further much ado. I was one of the 20+ animals/birds who sang in chorus. I was a parrot with a parrot mask and a green maxi! Hmm… those good old days! Thanks to this movie screening got to recall those memories.
Music, Dialogues and Nostalgia
Music(read songs) have this magic of enabling time travel. Last night I happened to listen to a song from a movie and was immediately transported to my college days where we cat-walked(!!?!??!) to the music of the song. Was reminded of how we made mixed tapes for our fashion shows and group dances. Although I always complain about how Indian movies have songs in them, but to be honest the songs are the ones that bring these happy memories unexpectedly. Last night, I was all smiles and happy when I heard the song and my better-half was wondering why and my exact answer was “I am so happy right now, I could just die”. Yes, these songs are indeed magical. Songs from aasai takes me to my days in Bangalore. Hearing “Oruvan oruvan mudhalali” takes me to my undergrad days. Listening to Suprapadham or any rendition by M.S Subbulakshmi takes me to the month of margazhi when I was little. The song “Naane naana yaaro thana” and “Poovarasam poo poothachu” takes me to my days in village with my teenage aunt. Listening to the songs from Kadhalukku Mariyadhai takes me the first month of my marriage and the list goes on.
A sentence I often use, “andha kandraviya naan kannala paathen”. I have even forgotten where I picked this sentence from until last night. Last week by some miracle(Sun TV showing something worthwhile for me to watch and enjoy is indeed a miracle), the Sun TV showed a clip from a good old movie, Kalyana Parisu and I was immediately transported to my childhood. I used to listen to these funny movie dialogues(OLi Chiththiram) in the famous All India Radio and Vividh Bharathi along with my aunts, cousins, grandparents and the whole gang and laugh uncontrollably.
My hearty thanks to all those entertainers who continue to bring smiles to my face.
