Meandering thoughts - Sita Sreeraman

Indian Stretchable Time is a common phrase with us Indians, we are constantly late be it meetings, weddings, get-togethers! We are not time conscious , this is something we are told time and again! I was wondering about this as I was yet again late for another meeting with a friend. Is this trait historical, where did we inherit it collectively from? Coincidentally at this instant, my phone rang and a friend mentioned something about rahu kalam and a marriage muhurtam during the course of the call. And that's when it hit me, our fore-fathers were so much more time conscious than we ever will be. For a country, where clocks and watches are not common or did not originate from, it is just amazing what our tradition has. How else can we explain the importance of the time and our obsession with it be it a wedding muhurtham or tarpanam, rahu kalam, yama  gandam etc. I have come to realize that time is inherently central to the Indian tradition. This is apparent when we see how m

I started writing this blog about Pongal but then found this month - Margazhi or Dhanur Masam is a special one, packed with memories. My earliest memories of Pongal are in Cement Nagar, Andhra Pradesh, where Appa worked. Every year beginning from the first day of Dhanur Masam or Marghazhi, there was a sense of excitement and competition. We would wake up early and rush to the temple by 6 a.m. Our Poojari or temple priest was a very learned pious person and an excellent cook. On the cold Dhanur masam mornings, the temple would serve Prasadams of chakkara prongal, ven pongal etc, served hot in a dhonnai(a cup made of leaves, stitched together with tiny sticks). It was pure joy to eat the hot prasadam. The prasadam woke me up early and got me to temple on time. [Amma ootadha sadham maanga ootum! or if the Diety does not bring you the temple, the prasadam surely will! The priests knew psychology! :) ] Late evenings, the maids would clean the front yard of the houses and apply a layer o