Meandering thoughts - Sita Sreeraman

I have been living abroad for a few years now. And there are many things I miss about India - my family, friends, work place, concerts, temples, festivals, various events in the family etc. But what I subtly miss are the myriad ways of sharing and support, people being there for you in both good and bad times, appreciation and celebrating, correcting and criticizing. There is this chronic unease, gnawing of the heart, not too painful but definitely there; of missing something intangible! Back home if I cooked something or bought something nice say like mangoes, sharing it would be so easy. And the joy of sharing would be instantaneous. A new dress/accessory and the compliment it may bring. A nicely cooked food item and the joy of sharing it A good 'chaat' and eating it with cousins A new addition to the family and the joy it brings A new song and watching it sung by many in the family A new slokam and its benefits A pradhakishnam in the temple and the joy of seeing ...

This has been a post that I have been wanting to write ever since I found myself buying a multi-coloured chandu (tilakam or pottu) in a Fancy store in Trichur and Thazhamboo kumkum in Giri Trading, Mylapore. It bought back nostalgia of the many hours spent in Fancy stores(another thing disappearing from our landscapes), selecting bindi stickers, bangles, hair pins, ear-rings etc ... I thought of what I can remember about this lovely bindi: I am a Tamil brahmin (Iyer) with ancestors who settled in Kerala many generations ago.  For us or until my generation , Pottu is sacrosanct. When I was young(say 20 years ago), our mothers and grandmothers wore kumkumam made of turmeric. Then came the Eyetex paste which was applied and then kumkum applied on this. After this came the 'chandu' or 'tilakam' (with the white cap) initially in red, black and maroon. The multi-colour chandus made their appearnace soon after. The stickers came next, initially in circular shapes and th...