My Best Pongal-O-Pongal
This was a weekend of sorts,
Spent in Chinnankuppam, a small village of 2000,
In the interiors of rural Tamilnadu.
Without a phone, iPad or a DSLR, by choice,
For, distractions I didn’t want any,
To admiring the rustic beauty that were many.
Waking up to a dawn of a zillion chirping birds,
Only to be interjected by crow of a rooster,
Immersed in the perfect round glow of sunrise on a chilly morning.
“Vanakkan Aiyya” chants every passing villager on those long leisurely strolls,
The narrow mud pathways, surrounded by harvest-ready lush green paddy fields on both sides,
Only interrupted by a tall sugarcane crop or two or rows of beautiful turmeric plants.
Heightened senses, with the distant hum of a water pump from some well afar,
And the dry smell of the just-ploughed earth,
The uneven feel of the mud on you bare feet.
Watching our kids run and play with the kids (goat),
And the lovely cows with painted horns and jewellery that befits a bride,
Or the quack of ducks as they swim gracefully in the pond.
A walk into the clean village school and its minimalistic classrooms,
The artwork filled walls lucidly explain the world of science and heritage,
A neatly organized teacher’s lectern with a chalk box and a ‘duster’ and a cane.
It was a fun-ride on the rickety 30 year old TVS50,
As we meandered the village roads,
When smell of the crisp air and chilly wind hitting the face.
There was entertainment and festivities around the ancient village temple,
The running commentary on the loudspeaker by the MC,
That doubled up as a ventriloquist and a stand-up comedian.
Boys dressed in their over-sized half-pants and girls beautifully draped in paavadais,
Watching themplay the game of ‘catch-the-murukku’ or breaking the pot blind-folded,
Where the young and the old dance to the film music from yore of MGR to a Dhanush.
Drunk in the pure, unadulterated hues on the evening sky against the crimson sunset,
As birds made their way back home, and so did the cows and the goats,
And we did retire at half-past-eight for a game of cards and a blissful sleep.
Well, all that in in a day is a lot,
But then when there is no camera, iPhone or an iPad,
So you learn to live the moments for posterity.
It was indeed a great pongal-o-pongal