REGIONAL DIGEST—SOUTH CENTRAL Pillayar Nonbu 2011
From the view point of Preethi Kannan, a seventh grader...
Family – it means different things to each of us. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Friends, neighbors, and community members. But the most memorable moments in our life can be those few hours or days that you actually get to cherish together. Being a Chettiar child in America, I don’t have the privilege of spending weekends with my grandparents or visiting my village for weddings and functions as often as my cousins in India. For this matter I look forward to Pillayar Nonbu every year because it is one weekend of the year that I really get to connect with Chettinad culture.
This year Houston chettiars hosted the annual South Central Pillayar Nonbu. Early Saturday, Dec 24th, morning, South Central Nagarathars loaded up their cars and made their way to the hotel in Houston. When you reached the hotel you could feel the thick atmosphere of excitement spreading through the air and rooting itself in all of the guests. Hugs and hellos were exchanged as friends from far and near greeted each other. Everyone bustled up to change into traditional veshtis and saris after checking in and receiving room keys. The children’s program started immediately after everyone gathered in the auditorium and settled down. Many young kids performed by singing cultural songs and dancing to cinema tunes. There were
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“kutty-mandrams” and skits which were humorous and well done. Even I got a chance to play my violin with my friends. It was nice to see everyone’s talents shine that night on stage.
The second portion of the evening was the special prayer to Lord Ganesha and the Chettinad tradition of taking Ealai. 320 Ealai is taken this year in Houston. We lined up organized by kovils and were blessed by Ganesha as well as the elders at the function. After the blessings, we lined up once more for dinner and had an authentic Chettinad feast thanks to the talented aachis of SouthCentral. All the dishes had unique flavors like sweet kandrappams , vellai panniyaram with the savory vara millagai chutney, Chettinad special mallipoo idli, vadai and pongal. My all time favorite is the thirratu paal made during Pillayar Nonbu and I always make sure to get an extra serving of it.
As the crowd settled after dinner, the adults’ program started with two remarkable plays about the whims and wonders of Chettinad marriage; it was entertaining to see parents, uncles and aunties from our everyday lives to perform on stage. The highlight of the evening was “Mangatha”, a parody of the original movie by the Dallas Nagarathars. It was outstanding from start to finish and everyone enjoyed watching it. The evening’s final program was a Jeopardy game show directed towards the youth attending the night. The college kids got their share of holiday review through the
challenging questions and even the audience got to join. After a long day of shows, culture, delicious cuisine and socializing everyone went back to their rooms for a good night’s sleep.
I woke up the next morning eager to get dressed and head to the breakfast area. After the breakfast, the banquet hall was abuzz about the lively game show that many of you may know, Oru Varthai Oru Latcham. The program really connected with the audience as teams guessed Chettinad specific words and had a good time enjoying together. The last event of the day was a discussion on guidance for our college-seeking children; should the parents choose the college for their children or should the children be allowed to decide for themselves? Grand parents, parents and the young participated equally and expressed their views and opinion in this meaningful discussion.
It was a perfect end to the perfect weekend. Soon afterwards suitcases were packed, rooms were checked out and goodbyes went all around. It would be a year until we see some of these friends again, but we had memories to take with us forever.
These friends were like our extended family, they make us feel at home away from home. It was relaxing to take a break from the world around us and just focus on having fun and creating memories. Furthermore, it makes me proud to carry on the Chettinad tradition here in the USA surrounded by friends and family.
It has been said that the Nattukottai Chettis in organization, cooperation, and business methods, are as remarkable as European merchants. The simple but strict training which they give their boys, the long and tedious apprenticeships which even the sons of the richest among them have to undergo, make them very efficient in profession and methodical in whatever they undertake to do.
— Extracted from the book, “Castes and Tribes of Southern India” by Edgar Thurston (1909); compiled by Selvi Annamalai, NJ Volume 13, issue 1 27
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