This Sunday our village was full of sounds. Firecrackers marked the beginning of the Hindu New Year according to the Malayam calendar in Kerala. Anxiously awaited by many of the children at our English classes, this “Vishu” Festival carries a very suiting (yet unorthodox) name for a new start. “Vishu” meaning “equal” according to the Sanskrit language or equinos, the time when the day and the night are equal in duration. So, as children were running around with fire-sticks, their mothers prepared the traditional “Vishu” dinner with the interesting requirement of having equal portions of sweet, bitter, sour, salty and spicy flavors. I found this apparently simple culinary tradition a beautiful poetic way to start a new year. Without a countdown nor champange toasts, the families use their homemade meals to honor resiliency and teach their children how to enjoy and expect an equal balance of bitter, sweet and sour memories for this oncoming new year.
Meanwhile, the Profugo team was also celebrating our own new beginning. We finally moved to our house in the village! After 8 months of a two hour daily bus commute, we can finally wake up in the village and have our morning chai with the ladies at our tailoring workshop.
As per the community’s request, and following our curiosity, Emily and I decided to go forth with a traditional Kerala style Open House. We wore our sarees, boiled the traditional sweet milk and lit our Nilavilakku oil lamp (pictures of the banquet table above: Oil lamp next to the baby bananas, Indian cupcakes, the coconut cookies and spicy chex mix). All of this traditional formalities were complimented by the communities children who came first thing in the morning carrying a big homemade WELCOME poster and later spent the morning playing “catch the chicken” on our new terrace.
This move is very significant because living in the village will not only save us the commute but will also make us more present in our members’ lives. The move will take us closer to understanding and learning from our community’s daily achievements and struggles in the farm fields, academic and family life. I’m also particularly excited to live at the Profugo’s Farm to wakeup to the crowing roosters and personally water our seedlings in our experimental gardens of vegetable and repellent plants.
*More updates to come. You can also find more photos, updates and details on the gardens in my previous entry.
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