A website for my blog and activities
Happy Pongal!
Pongal is here again. Pongal or Makara Sankranti is a major harvest festival celebrated in various parts of India. We Hindus especially the Tamils have been celebrating this festival since our forefathers landed on the shores of this country many many years ago
We usher in the month of Thai in a very auspicious manner, by boiling rice, milk and sugar in ceremoniously decorated pots. And as the concoction boils and flows out of the pot in abundance it is seen as bringing in new hope and auspiciousness into our lives.
The whole world sees January as a new month, as a new beginning. It is in the month of January specifically January 14th, in the month of Thai, that the Tamils make their new beginning.
The month prior to Thai is Margazhi. During Margazhi, God The Creator is glorified in temples beginning their prayers as early as 5am. Every Hindu house used to be decorated with Kolams – designs hand drawn with rice flour.
I recall when I was a young boy on how my mother used to wake up very early in the mornings to draw these floral designs on earthen space in front of our attap house in Kelawei Road, Penang. She would do it very meticulously and the Kolams will be spread over a large space.
My job was to go around the neighbourhood collecting coloured flowers to decorate the Kolams. By the time the sun rises, the entire ground in front of our doors would look so bright and beautiful. In no time, many birds, ants and insects will come to feed on the rice flour.
For 30 long days, the Kolam was a daily ritual/routine and interested lady folks would be exchanging new designs for Kolams. The grand finale would come on January 14 – Pongal day, when many Kolams will be drawn in front of the house. Sometimes also on the stairways leading to the next floor, and in the prayer rooms as well.
Prayers were offered to the Sun God and by noon we would have some poor folk come to our house for the Pongal meal. We would serve them authentic South Indian meals of Sarkarrai Pongal(sweet rice), sambar and rice.
These days my family observes as much of this tradition as possible. Once the Pongal is prepared in the special ‘Pongal pot’ and the rest of the meal is cooked we have the Pongal prayers and then enjoy the meal with some friends who look forward to the special food!
The Pongal pot is an auspicious item and some families have used the same pot for generations even!
Incidentally, when I was the Deputy Minister in the Rural Development Ministry, Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had approved a RM1 Million revolving fund to revive the pottery industry. Thanks to this contribution, the potters who came to this country more than a 100 years ago are able to strengthen their industry. It is with a sense of deep satisfaction that I recall on how I was able to revive the pottery industry under the concept of Industry Kampung.
Happy Pongal!
| Print article | This entry was posted by Palanivel on January 14, 2010 at 1:17 pm, and is filed under Blog. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 2 years ago
Happy Ponggal Dato’.
I am indeed aware the assistance you have provided to the pottery industry. Since the day i started organising Ponggal Event in 2003. The pottery industry till today acknowledges your contributions.
about 2 years ago
Wish all Malaysian a very Happy Ponggal.
about 2 years ago
Datuk ,pertaqma sekali saya ucapkan terima kasih kerana memberi reaksi kepada cadangan saya terdahulu mengenai Hulu Selangor. Mungkin datuk kurang pasti , siapa diri saya .Dua bulan dahulu saya ada , meminta izin untuk bertemu datuk , dan memberi cadangan bagaimana menawan kembali Hulu Selangor.
Tanpa membuang masa , saya ingin menambah beberapa cadangan baru . Sudah ada cakap – cakap , kebarangkalian akan ada satu pilihan raya baru di hulu Selangor.Ingin saya perbetulkan mungkin wujud dan tidaj mungkin . Itu bukan persoalannya.
Dalam cadangan saya terdahulu , saya telah memberi cadangan seperi a) understand the opposition territory ,dan beberap cadangan lain . Melihat kepada kejituan dan beberapa analysia saya , di sini adalah perlu MIC mengarap pengundi baru .Dalam episod ini biar saya lampirkan fakta .
Some 28 per cent of eligible voters – or 4.39 million Malaysians over the age of 21 – have yet to register as voters as of the end of last year, Election Commission (EC) Deputy Chairman Datuk Wira Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said.
Of the total, Selangor has the highest number at 787,000, followed by Johor (605,000), Perak (526,000) and Sarawak (473,000).
“Most of them, or about 65 per cent, are Malays and Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak,” Bernama quoted him as saying. “From the registration forms we received recently, we found that more non-Bumiputera youths are registering as voters.”
Wan Ahmad said the EC would seek the cooperation of non-governmental organisations, youth organisations and other groups to inform the EC if they were organising events involving large numbers of people so that it could open voter registration counters.
“They can just contact us and inform us about their events. The EC will be very happy to open a counter there,” he said.
He also said that the EC would intensify efforts to register voters by putting up counters at shopping malls, participating in meet-the-client sessions organised by departments, going into the rural areas and appointing deputy registrars among political parties to register those qualified to be registered.
The public could also register as voters at 700 post offices nationwide, he said.
The EC would also seek the cooperation of the electronic media to encourage the public to register as voters, he added.
Di sini so called advantage pada penggundi baru di Hulu selangor memainkan peranan penting.
1) Mula menggerakkan jentera bagi mendapatkan penggundi baru , bagi saya MIC perlua ambil pendekatan berterusan di hulu Selangor .Masih tiinggi kebarangkalian MIC jauh ke belakang .
2) Mula membuka keahlian di kawasan ( opposition territory) dengan memperkenalkan program berbentuk perniagaan di bawah naugna MIC pusat .Munkin terdapat kesukaran , mungkin ada program tapi perlu di perkukuhkan lagi .
3) mengenal pasti kawasan hitam seperti mana Hulu Yam , Hulu yam baru , serendah , sungai Chph bagi mempercepatkan usaha berjuma dengan rakyat .
Sebelum saya lupa , saya mendapat reaksi daripada blog datuk bahawa datuk pernah cuba menghubungi saya dan ingin berjumpa dengan saya memandangkan saya sendiri anak jati hulu selangor .Mungkin saya keluar negeri pada masa itu kerna faktor menjalankan tugas.
Untuk maklumkan Datuk , di sini saya lampirkan No telefon bimbit saya . 0176450184 sanjay unit Ekonomi RTM . Di harap saya dapat duduk bersama datuk , bagi membincangkan secara lanjut pro dan kontra bagi mengembalikan Hulu selangor kepada MIC seterusnya kepada Barisan Nasional .
Sekian Terima Kasih dari saya ,
Sanjay