Navarathri - Half a Century Ago....

I used to live in T. Nagar, Chennai, the northern part of it.
It was not buzzing with shoppers as it is today.
The place was quiet, calm like a village.

All the fun started on the day of the new moon, when my mother and my uncle
bring down the dolls that were sleeping on the loft all through the year.
Down will come some mice and rats too!

And then the engineering work of creating the "Kolu Stand".
As we didn't have the regular one,all things like benches, tables,swing board (Unjal Palagai)
were used along with planks of old scaffolding. Even rice drums were not spared!
And the last stair will be a big trunk in which grandma used to keep her silver utensils.

Somehow after many changes the stand will be ready draping a 'salavai veshti' (clean white dhoti) on it.
Me and my cousin will help elders keep the dolls in the designated order.
For keeping the "Dasavataram' dolls in proper order, my grandmother will bring the 'Pambu Panchangam'
in which the pictures are printed in the order.

The most interesting part is the 'park' as it was called, which was left for the imagination of the younger generation. We used to keep sand in cardboard boxes of silk sarees and sow seeds of 'vendayam' and keep small toys in there. The temple tank was kept with an idol of Lord Krishna at the centre.

The fun part of Navaratri is visiting the houses of friends, seeing their kolu arrangements, inviting them to our house.The difficult part of it is that we should sing at each and every house - else no sundal! And we didnt have the wherewithal to say 'I won't sing, you can keep your half baked sundal with yourself'!
Me and my cousin will sing together, but will have a small dispute as to who should start the song.The ubiquitous 'sundal' will be given only after we finish singing. At some houses if the elders of the household were very indulgent and kind we would be asked sing one more song.

Despite the sadness that was holiday homework ( we have to write answers for all our quarterly exam questions) Navarathri was the most enjoyable festival for young girls like me, even more than Deepavali, because we had holidays all the ten days and the fun of meeting friends everyday. The icing on the cake was the moratorium on touching the books on Saraswathi Pooja day.

All that laborious work, the small fights with my cousins, the repeated and voluminous cussing of the house 'elders'-  the varieties of bakshanams, gossip with friends, visits to their houses, the decorations, the toys and the few minutes of divinity in the middle of all this made it all worthwhile. Navaratri fifty years ago was a season to celebrate and look forward to. It is quite sad realizing that in these days of 2BHK apartments and micro families, there is a generation growing up which may not even know what 'Kolu' is!