The good ol’ summer nostalgia
Do you have a longing for your childhood and the traditional crafts you came across then? From time immemorial, art has always been a part of human life. And India, has been the place of origin of many arts.
There’s something about the summers in India. As the temperature goes up and the beads of perspiration ooze out of our body, it’s finally that time of the year when the lighter coloured linen are shown the light of the sun. Our Indian parents aren’t all scared about spoiling those white bedsheets and curtains anymore.
The gallis and streets are filled with kids playing, without the worry of going back and finishing their homework. When there’s nothing better than the taste of street popsicles aka golas & ice-creams are one true love. And, it’s time for not just bedtime, but anytime-of-the-day stories with our beloved grandparents.
As we finish school and move ahead with higher studies and work, summers are then about nostalgia. So this summer of 2020, as we self distance, we go down our memory lane and take you places around India and talk about what summer reminds us about.
Vetha, a student from Tamil Nadu, takes us through her summer memories…
When I was a kid, I used to wake up early and had the blessing of watching haldi coloured women, decorating the floor with rice flour. It’s called kolam or muggulu in the southern parts of India and Rangoli in the northern parts. The ground would smile at everyone and give a good energy for the rest of the day. Rice flour was used with a view of feeding ants and birds. My grandmother used to tell me that, Goddess Lakshmi — the Goddess of prosperity and auspiciousness, once asked Lord Vishnu to give her a place to reside. And Vishnu asked her to stay in all homes that are decorated with kolams in their entrances. And as maximum Tamilian Brahmins are Vaishnavas, we all know what followed.
Varavu meaning coming (meaning Warm welcome in Tamil)
Today, even science has proved that kolams are algorithmic. Moreover, computer engineers use kolams to study pictorial patterns. It was strange at first, but I am happy to see these kolam’s on tea cups, pen stands, plant holders and cutleries today.
Our neighbouring house had a small handloom workshop. I remember going there as a kid and wondering how intricate and beautiful those colourful strings looked as they passed through the wooden surface to become a saree. I didn’t understand much of the process back then, but it felt blissful. The uncle, a traditional weaver used to say that he put his soul in making each saree, hoping that every thread was happy as they came together.
That’s my granny, winnowing ragi. The winnow fan is made with bamboo and coated with cow dung. The gaps between each bamboo, retains the stones as shown below.
Winnow fan weaving is another handicraft that is popular in India. Winnowing removes the outer chaff of grains, making them edible.
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Now thinking of all this also reminds me of the pot I made by myself when I was a kid, it still holds a special place in our kitchen. I really don’t know if it’ll be a cliche, but being a late 90’s kid; I was privileged to see people create in the immediate surrounding. Those were the days when use and throw wasn’t that prevalent and people believed in repairing as they valued and understood the importance of people who created and kept them.
When seeing an old man making puppets or a woman printing a saree or a family working tirelessly for three days to make a single piece of carpet, would have certainly amused any man!
Images by Nirmisu and Vetha Sampathkumar
