'Wish you and your family A Very Happy Ugadi!' I was happy to have remembered to text my Tamil friend on the Occasion of the Tamil New Year yesterday. 'Thanks! Do you guys celebrate it too?' she texted back. 'Nope. We had our new year 2 weeks back. Remember you wished me for GudhiPadwa? I guess you share it with Bengalis who celebrate Poila Baisakh. The Punjabis had Baisakhi yesterday.' I said, showing off my knowledge of Indian festivals and asked 'So did you make payasam?'. 'No. The new year is celebrated tomorrow in Kerala.' For a moment I wondered what she meant by that. 'Huh? But I thought you are a Tamil' I was typing this when she texted 'We are from the border. There is a lot of confusion when it comes to borders.'
While I am still not sure what she meant by that, I was glad that she told me about the Malayali new year because one of my good friends is a Malayali. Then I sighed and wondered - wouldn't it be great if we Indians celebrated the new year on the same day? That way we don't have to remember which community celebrates it on which day. Why do we have to complicate everything?
But funnily enough, it's precisely this diversity that makes the country so interesting, isn't it?
So here's wishing you on the occassion of Poila Baisakh, Ugadi, Baisakhi and Vishu. :-)
Epilogue:
'How do you wish a Malayali for new year?' I again texted my Tamil friend. 'Vishu Aashamsagal' she said and helpfully added 'it means Happy New Year'. Today morning I sent 'Vishu Aashamsagal' to my Malayali friend. But I also added another line 'I hope it means "Happy New Year"'. He texted back after a five minutes 'It is the right greeting for the occassion but it doesn't mean "Happy New Year". Vishu is the name of the festival like Holi.' 'Oops, isn't it new year for you guys today?' I asked. This friend has been blessed with limitless patience by God Almighty! 'It is only called Vishu like Ugadi' he texted.
I didn't have the heart to ask him what 'Aashamsagal' means. :-)
While I am still not sure what she meant by that, I was glad that she told me about the Malayali new year because one of my good friends is a Malayali. Then I sighed and wondered - wouldn't it be great if we Indians celebrated the new year on the same day? That way we don't have to remember which community celebrates it on which day. Why do we have to complicate everything?
But funnily enough, it's precisely this diversity that makes the country so interesting, isn't it?
So here's wishing you on the occassion of Poila Baisakh, Ugadi, Baisakhi and Vishu. :-)
Epilogue:
'How do you wish a Malayali for new year?' I again texted my Tamil friend. 'Vishu Aashamsagal' she said and helpfully added 'it means Happy New Year'. Today morning I sent 'Vishu Aashamsagal' to my Malayali friend. But I also added another line 'I hope it means "Happy New Year"'. He texted back after a five minutes 'It is the right greeting for the occassion but it doesn't mean "Happy New Year". Vishu is the name of the festival like Holi.' 'Oops, isn't it new year for you guys today?' I asked. This friend has been blessed with limitless patience by God Almighty! 'It is only called Vishu like Ugadi' he texted.
I didn't have the heart to ask him what 'Aashamsagal' means. :-)
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