I think Margazhi is one month that comes with a lot of magnetism, a lot of beauty. Wintry mornings, twinkling diyas outside houses, evenings spent with hot degree coffee and kutcheris, loads of pongal, and finally, Sankaranti. It’s just so easy to fall in love with this season, all the more when you’re in Chennai.
I’ve grown up watching my mother, grandmothers, aunts, neighbourhood maamis, all get up early in the mornings, much before sunrise, and prepare for the day. Those were times when I was in school, and had a solid eight hours or even more, for sleep, and another leisurely day ahead. Mother who took full advantage of this, made sure I was up with her at 5 am, ‘learning’ my bit of all that goes into Margazhi. But no doubt, I loved it, and that’s why those remain by far the most unique, magical memories of childhood.
However, the true spirit of this month would be lost, when this very magic of the rituals and festivities is misinterpreted as forfeit and imposition. News came two days back that one of the elderly ladies (another obstinate carrier of the Margazhi month tradition), had collapsed in her bathroom due to extreme lack of sleep and low blood pressure. “Through the month, she would only finish her chores and sleep by midnight and wake up as early as 4 am. Even in the morning, she wouldn’t eat a crumb till she finished preparing the prasadam. She’s 68!,” they said.
Following an age-old tradition isn’t a penance. It is instead, meant to be a beautiful, healthy practice, like it was for me, as a child. Once you turn it into an infliction, a burden upon yourself, you’re causing nothing but jeopardy to its true essence. Following a tradition should, on the other hand, be a cause of spreading warmth, unity and love in society. When you shape the nature of a tradition by indulging in self-punishment, and worse, its imposition on others, you’re inflicting nothing but disgruntlement for it, particularly among the young. For all you know, they’ll shed it, the first thing you kick the bucket! For the 68-year-old lady and all those like her - Carry on a tradition with ease and passion, and watch it live on for years as nostalgia, not a stigma.