Reaping timeless lesson on gratitude for our food

Hindus giving thanks as milk boils over from the pot of rice during Ponggal celebration. — Filepic

WHEN I was a child, shouting “Ponggalo Ponggal” three times while rice cooked in milk made me feel awkward because I was shy and introverted.

Now, invoking it when the milk boils over from the rice pot brings a smile.

The festival is named after the ceremonial ponggal, which means “boiling over” in Tamil and refers to the traditional dish of rice cooked with milk and jaggery.

Ponggal is about expressing gratitude to the sun, nature, farm animals and the people involved in agriculture.

“Thai Ponggal” is observed on the first day of the Tamil month of Thai, and it usually falls on Jan 14 or 15.

When I was growing up, my mother told me it was a harvest festival celebrated by farmers, who were thankful for their yield.

“It is part of our culture to show gratitude for the harvest, the sun, the cattle that help in the fields, and Mother Nature. Ponggal is mainly celebrated in the south of India,” she said.

For me, Ponggal meant sweetened rice, a hearty vegetarian meal and new Tamil shows on television.

We never did the traditional brick stove setup because I am asthmatic and burning wood would have aggravated my condition.

Traditionally, a decorated claypot is placed on a brick stove outdoors.

Three stalks of sugarcane, symbolising resilience and a sweet future, are arranged criss-cross over the pot, with kolam (floor drawing) around it and two kuttu vilakku (traditional vertical oil lamps) nearby.

In our home, it was a claypot on the stove and sugarcane at the doorway or altar.

My mother boiled boxed milk, as fresh milk was hard to get during the peak season.

Once it boiled over, she added rice, yellow split mung bean, jaggery, ghee, cardamom, salt, edible camphor, cashews and raisins.

We liked it on the drier side, so she let it cook a little longer.

How it would taste would be a surprise because tasting was forbidden until it was offered at the altar with a short prayer.

As I grew older, I learnt that Ponggal is a four-day celebration that begins with Bhoghi Ponggal, a day of cleaning and preparation.

This is followed by Thai Pong­gal, then Mattu Ponggal when cattle are bathed, adorned and thanked for their labour.

The final day, Kaanum Pong­gal is a community celebration, once linked to matchmaking but now enjoyed by all.

When I was growing up, we only marked Thai Ponggal and donated clothes.

Our celebration was modest, but I loved dressing up in traditional attire, eating a banana-leaf meal and watching television with my family.

Ponggal may not be celebrated like Tamil New Year, Deepa­vali or Thaipusam, but as a harvest festival, it matters just as much.

It reminds us to give thanks to the land and animals that sustain us.

We might be far from padi fields and cattle, but Ponggal reminds us of the effort it takes to fill our plates and nourish us.