Vishu Celebrations
It’s my 5th year living abroad and I have tried as much as I can in celebrating festivals in my own little way. At first, I thought it would be challenging to truly feel the festive cheer and spirit living in a country that bears very little resemblance to my own. However, I realized that you just need to adapt yourself a little bit to what is available and how much you are willing to contribute to feel that personal satisfaction.
In this post, I will talk about Vishu – the Tamil/Kerala new year, celebrated on the 14th of April that signifies the beginning of the Malayalam new year. As a child I watched my parents go to the market on the eve of Vishu, to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables including seasonal fruits like jackfruit and mangoes along with the Vishu Konna flowers that blossom only during this month. The same night, Amma would remove the silver and gold coins that she received at the time of her marriage and set them along with fruits, vegetables, lentils on a silver plate, placed in front of a mirror. This entire set up is called the “Vishu Kani”. After covering these with a new piece of cloth, we would go to bed eagerly waiting to be woken up the next morning. The tradition holds that the elders would wake up early and see the Vishu kani before leading the younger ones, with their eyes closed, only to be opened to the ‘Vishu kani’. Seeing the Vishu kani first thing in the morning of a New Year implies that the New Year will be full of abundance and good fortune. Once this is done, we would hurry to have a bath and seek our elder’s blessings which would be rewarded with cash known as ‘Vishu kaineetam’. And as all Indian festivals, a lip smacking feast could only be the kaju on the payasam, if I may say so.
Cut to 2009 when I was in France in a small town with barely any Indian population. So here I was eager to celebrate this festival but had never done this on my own. So with some encouragement from my parents, I decided to do it in my own special way. I went to the nearby supermarket and got some common veggies and some uncommon ones like zucchini, avocado and strawberries. I borrowed a mirror off my Mexican hostel-mate and set all of this next to my bed. I even managed to convince a friend from Abu Dhabi to follow this custom. For lunch, 2 other friends joined hands to cook a feast complete with payasam , needless to say I made myself and my parents very proud of my efforts. 
The next year I was confident enough to follow the same in Paris and then the 2 following years in Dubai. Although I miss celebrating Vishu with family, I try to make the day as close to as it would be at home. This year I added some gold into my Vishu kanni, isn’t that mandatory living in the Land of Gold? I attempted to make Kesari following Amma’s instructions over the phone and it turned out pretty good for a 1st attempt. For a change, I got invited to a delightful lunch at a family’s next to my building. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it felt like I was back home.
I do miss the Vishu ‘money’ blessings ;) but I did make it count even more by calling my extended family and conveying my wishes. After all isn’t this why we celebrate festivals? To come together as a family, celebrate happiness and share food and laughter. Today, as we live in different time zones, we forget to connect with our close relatives and it is festivals like these that remind us to re-connect and share our stories, well being and warmth.
