HAPPY GOLDEN NEW YEAR

Today is Vishu. The mallu New Year. As I woke up sleepy-eyed to gaze upon the Vishu Kanni, it stuck me. The mallu obsession with the yellow metal extends to the Vishu Kanni too. All of the items that make up the vishu kanni bear some resemblance to the precious metal. The yellow flowers, the bronze uruli, the lit lamp, the frame of the mirror, the yellow cucumber, not to mention the jewelry and the new clothes-all of these are some shade of yellow.

Take a ride through Kerala and you would think you had landed in Gold’s Own Country. The hoardings, the advertisements painted on the walls, the banners, all advertise jewelery stores; not only in Kerala but exotic locations like the Middle East too!!! The sheer number of jewelry stores that exist boggles the mind. And the number of people who throng these stores at any time of night or day makes you wonder if India truly is the poor country it is made out to be.

One only has to look at mallu brides to see the excesses which people commit. Most mallu brides dressed up in all their wedding finery could easily rival the caparisoned and gold-bedecked elephants of the Thrissur pooram!
Gold or no gold, I hope every mallu has a truly golden new year ahead!!!