CHENNAI: Traditionally a farmer’s festival to celebrate the year’s first harvest season, Pongal is celebrated in every Tamilian household. Through the three-day festivities, people thank the Sun God, the flora and fauna, the cattle and nature for its bounties. It is also the time of the year when the aroma of sweet pongal made using boiled milk, jaggery and rice wafts through most kitchen windows.
Almost every house entrance is decorated with sugarcane to signify the new harvest. The second day, Maattu Pongal, celebrates cattle and the third day of the festival, Kaanum Pongal, is for spending time with family and rejoicing the year’s harvest with a picnic of sorts.
Low-key affair
The story is slightly different for the fishing community that resides near the Ennore Fish Market. “A year back, we were moved from our homes near the toll gate at Kasimedu to quarters at Ennore. We were around 100 families residing together at Kasimedu. The government split us up while relocating us.
Now my sister stays at Perumbakkam and my friends stay near Ambattur. The shift is one of the reasons we stopped celebrating Pongal like we usually do. In 2017, we were asked to move and in 2018, we evacuated our home of over 16 years,” Kavita tells us.
Kanagha, wife of a fisherman, says that the celebrations have become a low-key affair over the years. "For the last two years, many in our community have stopped celebrating Pongal with much pomp and show. Kavita’s is one of the three houses that even puts sugarcane outside their doors," says Kanagha.
Kavita, who is originally from Mylapore, but has been residing in north Chennai after her marriage, says, "Pongal has become a private affair for us. Everyone cooks pongal in their houses and prays to Perumal. Few people draw kolams outside their houses. Before we moved here, all of us used to meet on Pongal and share food and sweets. Now, only the children run around the streets singing Pongal songs for fun."
Like the farming community, the fishing community also burns old possessions like clothes on Bhogi. "We clean our houses and purchase new vessels and clothes for Pongal. We also respect our ancestors by casting their possessions into the sea. We offer sweets, dry fruits and chakkarai pongal to the sea. The ritual is expected to bring peace to their souls," says Ishwari, a fish vendor at the Ennore Fish Market.
Drums of joy
For Lakshmi Devi and Chitra who reside at the Tsunami Quarters in Tondiarpet, Pongal is a more joyous experience. "We are not the only community which resides here. Everyone celebrates Pongal together but a little differently. We celebrate Bhogi and Maattu Pongal more enthusiastically than other communities," says Lakshmi, who used to reside in Kasimedu before she was relocated, nine years back, to make way for the Chennai port.
"On Bhogi, we sing Pongal songs and celebrate by throwing old possessions in the bonfire. Everyone from the quarters gathers between 4 am and 5 am at the bonfire. In the evening, the children from our community sing songs and beat drums too," says Chitra, another resident.
Of prayer and hope
On Maattu Pongal, the fishing communities at Ennore and the Tsunami Quarters prepare non-vegetarian dishes. "Around ten years back, we would prepare large fish varities caught by our husbands for Maattu Pongal. Now, we cook smaller fish like matti, sankara and nethilli, because they are inexpensive," Chitra says.
"We are around 50 families residing at the Ennore quarters. All of us prepare chicken and fish dishes in the evening. Like the farmers worship the cow on this day, we prepare fish and thank Perumal for blessing the sea," says Ishwari.
But not all is well. Around 85 families remain abandoned on the banks of the north Chennai shore near Nalla Thanni Kuppam. "We have been waiting to be allocated quarters for 11 years now, but we still have no confirmation of when it is going to happen," says Selvaraj, a fisherman residing in the small cluster of temporary houses at Sugandharapuram.
"We haven’t had a proper Pongal celebration in years. Earlier, the entire village would come to a common space and prepare Pongal together. All the men would go fishing together for Maattu Pongal preparations. The women and children would sing songs in worship of Perumal. Now, most families here just celebrate Pongal in their houses and go out to the movies or the beach in the evening. Nowadays, many men get drunk in the evening and walk around the highway," he says.
The families live in clusters of ten or thirteen, with the N4 highway on one side and the raging ocean on the other. "We only few garments on Bhogi, because we cannot afford new ones," says Vigneshwar, a resident who has left fishing in search of better job opportunities.
The festival signifies the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. For the fishing communities of north Chennai, it’s an allegory - a time to wither their difficulties in salt and look forward to a better future.