Tamil New Year
When I had finally gotten the grasp of how Tamil New Year is not the same as the New Year based on the Gregorian calendar, I thought, "Why April 14? April is such a weird month." Then I found out that the Tamil calendar is based on the sun's orbit and that the Tamil months are based on the sun's year long transition through the different constellations. April 14 is the day the sun enters the Aries constellation, i.e., the first sign in the zodiac (it's typically April 14, but it has occured on another date as well in the past. Still fairly close to 14 nonetheless). I'm sure you know the role of astrology in the Tamil culture by now, so it makes sense that the day the sun enters the first zodiac sign was picked as the New Year. Why my people had to calculate this back in the day, I have no idea. But I find it incredibly fascinating and interesting and I want to know how they did that without modern technology.
Now, since it's the New Year, we have a bunch of traditions that we have to follow through on this day. The first thing you have to see on Tamil New Year, is a platter filled with specific things. And when I say first thing, I mean first thing. You wake up with your eyes closed and make sure the platter will be the first thing you see when you open your eyes. What's in the platter, you ask? A combination of items, that varies from household to household but the common ones are a mirror, flowers, coins or cash, a lamp, betel leaves and areca nut, fruits, turmeric and kungumam (vermillion/குங்குமம்), coconut and the panchangam (the Hindu calendar/பஞ்சாங்கம்). There has to be an odd number of items, as even numbers are not considered to be auspicious in Hinduism. These items are considered to be auspicious and to look at these things first thing in the morning on the New Year, signals the potential for a great start. Nothing auspicious ever happens in a Hindu household without coconut, flowers, betel leaves and areca nut and turmeric and vermillion. These are the holy grail. Coins/cash naturally represent wealth and the lamp, light in your path. Reading the Hindu calendar is to see what lies ahead in terms of prosperity for the year. Now, the exact significance and reasoning for the mirror is not clear. I have searched high and low and the only explanation I came across at one place is that a mirror reflects so it means double the wealth and prosperity that you could get. Cards on the table, I am a little dubious of this explanation. Expecting double of something doesn't really go with the Hindu teachings, especially with karma and dharma so I'm still on a journey to find out what the mirror is for. If you do know, please kindly leave it in the comments below so we can all learn.
So you have woken up, looked at this platter, showered, prayed and had breakfast. Then you sat around for a bit and now it's time for the money maker! LUNCH! As with most cultures, food holds an important position in the Tamil culture. Tamil people focus on having a arusuvai/அறுசுவை meal on most festive occasions (a meal that has six flavours - sweet, sour, spicy, salty, astringent and bitter. No, we don't mean all six flavours in one dish, we mean a minimum of six different dishes to capture these six flavours. That's why our banana leaf is loaded AF.) So it goes without saying that we have a arusuvai meal on Tamil New Year. Regardless of what you have on the other days, It's a must to feature mango chutney (maangai pachadi/மாங்காய் பச்சடி) and neem flower soup (veypam poo rasam/வேப்பம் பூ ரசம்) on this day. Why? Because mangoes and neem are in season during this time in India. Also because the mango chutney will be sweet and the neem soup will be bitter, representative of the bittersweet journey of life. AND because mangoes and neem clean the body of toxins! You will be starting the new year afresh from inside out.
Now, you might have noticed by now that I keep referring to the New Year as the Tamil New Year, not the Indian New Year. For those who don't know, India is supremely diverse. So diverse that different ethnic groups have different New Years. We don't all share the same date. We all have different customs we do on our different New Years. It's not all universal. If you're thinking is that really necessary, yes. To me at least, yes. I think we should embrace the different New Years of ALL the ethnic groups across the world and not just establish one universal New Year. It's for the same reason I think a multitude of cultures should exist in this world rather than one. Tamil New Year is a day that represents hope, new beginnings and is a time for family and friends to gather. And most cultures have at least one festive occasion that captures this same essence. In fact, at their very core, most cultures and religions preach the same, if not, very similar things. But the differences in our approach show us how different our perspectives are. It shows how there's no one way to do something. It shows how there's no right way to do something. Uniformity is boring, bleak and mind-numbing. But diversity is colourful, interesting and fun. It's how we improve our basic trait that makes us human - empathy. So this year, try to learn about another culture's New Year. You don't have to celebrate it. But the understanding and appreciation can make you that much more human. That essentially, we are all the same.
So to all my Tamil friends celebrating, புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்! (Happy New Year!) And for those who aren't, it's still not too late to catch up with your New Year resolutions! It's the New Year somewhere in the world!
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