Sailing boats. :D (Part 1)
Yo! Today I'm blogging about my culture. I know very different right?
Well it started a few days ago, when my mom told me I'll have to wake up at 5am to go for some celebration.
In Orissa we have this thing called karthik purnima. Its sorta like shravan celebrated by Maharashtrians. Gibberish? Well I didn't know much about it either. Untill today. Till today it was just a month in which mom won't eat non veg or onions or garlic. But she did cook for the rest of us. And the last day of this month is called karthik purnima. Purnima means a full moon day.
So anyway this year mom and some other of her friends from our building (who also happen to be from Orissa) decided to go and sail boats in the morning. And so the planning started. I had my doubts about going because I was gonna be the only kid among parents. Which means I was gonna be bored. So last night I kinda told my mom I won't be going. But she kept insisting so I felt guilty and agreed. Also my sister kinda convinced me to go and learn about our culture. Dad like me was reluctant but was forced to drive in the morning. Poor guy. He kept joking about going back because we were having trouble finding the place. But by morning I was firm bout going there. Excited actually.
And trust me that long painful drive after waking up at 5am was so worth it. If only I knew it was gonna be so epic I'd call all my friends.
It was this lake by the highway called Sea woods lake.
On our way I just kept observing the morning view. When we left the sun hadn't even risen but eventually it did. And we saw the whole thing. It was beautiful. I managed to take some shots but they aren't as beautiful as it looks in real. There were young kids cycling on the streets, jogging couples, some sports teams and cadet groups working out and a few cars whose frequency increased pretty fast.
I fell asleep eventually thanks to my stupid car sickness. But the moment I opened my eyes, and I looked around, I was taken aback by the beauty of the scene in front of my eyes. A lot of Oriya ppl had gathered there to celebrate this day. We didn't know most of them but we all had one common cause to be there to unite and celebrate our culture. Even though it was with a bunch of strangers we had so much in common. The same history the same stories passed on to generations. All of us there by the lake sailing handmade boats as the sun rose and took over the skies, the whole city visible from there.
I took my boat from the ladies who were making them from banana stems. It was a small cute stem with a diya, a coloured flag and some flowers with a sweet. We were supposed to light the diya and place it by the idol and then the boat goes into the lake. my boats unlike others covered a long distance :D there were some customised big boats which were actually carried in a real boat and set to sail in the middle of the lake. I managed to take loads of pictures.
Like you, even I was confused about the relevance of the boat. So after 15 years of oblivion I asked my dad what the purpose of this festival was. It seems long long ago men in Orissa would go to trade in other countries by sailing across the seas, since back then that was the only transportation. And this time of the year was the safest for travel as the seas were calm. So they went to places like Indonesia for trading spices and came back. So the women would make boats as a symbolic gesture and the morning of purmina before sunrise they would sail these boats with a short prayer so their family members return safely. And over the years although the trade stopped but the festival went on. And we still celebrate it as its a very important part of our culture.
And the best part of the day was spending time with dad, he told me all the stories of his days when they would go by the river with handmade boats and diyas or candles at 4-5am in the darkness and the river would be shinning with the light of the candles. While they burst crackers. Although I wasn't there to experience of but his words made me feel like I was transported there and the scene was breathtaking. And he taught me how to make a boat :)
So I'll stop here for today. the next post will have the pictures posted, due to some stupid error i blogger the picture arent getting attched at the moment. but remember next time you have a chance to attend some family function which might teach you a little something about your culture, make sure you give it a chance and attend, it will surely be a beautiful addition to your memories. :)
Check out Part 2: http://valerieverdette.blogspot.in/2013/11/sailing-boats-d-part-2.html
Well it started a few days ago, when my mom told me I'll have to wake up at 5am to go for some celebration.
In Orissa we have this thing called karthik purnima. Its sorta like shravan celebrated by Maharashtrians. Gibberish? Well I didn't know much about it either. Untill today. Till today it was just a month in which mom won't eat non veg or onions or garlic. But she did cook for the rest of us. And the last day of this month is called karthik purnima. Purnima means a full moon day.
So anyway this year mom and some other of her friends from our building (who also happen to be from Orissa) decided to go and sail boats in the morning. And so the planning started. I had my doubts about going because I was gonna be the only kid among parents. Which means I was gonna be bored. So last night I kinda told my mom I won't be going. But she kept insisting so I felt guilty and agreed. Also my sister kinda convinced me to go and learn about our culture. Dad like me was reluctant but was forced to drive in the morning. Poor guy. He kept joking about going back because we were having trouble finding the place. But by morning I was firm bout going there. Excited actually.
And trust me that long painful drive after waking up at 5am was so worth it. If only I knew it was gonna be so epic I'd call all my friends.
It was this lake by the highway called Sea woods lake.
On our way I just kept observing the morning view. When we left the sun hadn't even risen but eventually it did. And we saw the whole thing. It was beautiful. I managed to take some shots but they aren't as beautiful as it looks in real. There were young kids cycling on the streets, jogging couples, some sports teams and cadet groups working out and a few cars whose frequency increased pretty fast.
I fell asleep eventually thanks to my stupid car sickness. But the moment I opened my eyes, and I looked around, I was taken aback by the beauty of the scene in front of my eyes. A lot of Oriya ppl had gathered there to celebrate this day. We didn't know most of them but we all had one common cause to be there to unite and celebrate our culture. Even though it was with a bunch of strangers we had so much in common. The same history the same stories passed on to generations. All of us there by the lake sailing handmade boats as the sun rose and took over the skies, the whole city visible from there.
I took my boat from the ladies who were making them from banana stems. It was a small cute stem with a diya, a coloured flag and some flowers with a sweet. We were supposed to light the diya and place it by the idol and then the boat goes into the lake. my boats unlike others covered a long distance :D there were some customised big boats which were actually carried in a real boat and set to sail in the middle of the lake. I managed to take loads of pictures.
Like you, even I was confused about the relevance of the boat. So after 15 years of oblivion I asked my dad what the purpose of this festival was. It seems long long ago men in Orissa would go to trade in other countries by sailing across the seas, since back then that was the only transportation. And this time of the year was the safest for travel as the seas were calm. So they went to places like Indonesia for trading spices and came back. So the women would make boats as a symbolic gesture and the morning of purmina before sunrise they would sail these boats with a short prayer so their family members return safely. And over the years although the trade stopped but the festival went on. And we still celebrate it as its a very important part of our culture.
And the best part of the day was spending time with dad, he told me all the stories of his days when they would go by the river with handmade boats and diyas or candles at 4-5am in the darkness and the river would be shinning with the light of the candles. While they burst crackers. Although I wasn't there to experience of but his words made me feel like I was transported there and the scene was breathtaking. And he taught me how to make a boat :)
So I'll stop here for today. the next post will have the pictures posted, due to some stupid error i blogger the picture arent getting attched at the moment. but remember next time you have a chance to attend some family function which might teach you a little something about your culture, make sure you give it a chance and attend, it will surely be a beautiful addition to your memories. :)
Check out Part 2: http://valerieverdette.blogspot.in/2013/11/sailing-boats-d-part-2.html
Good start, use brevity and diplomacy. Long way to go... best of luck. :)
ReplyDeletePart 1 is awesome dear..lets check part 2..;)
ReplyDeleteAwesome!! Going ahead to part 2!!
ReplyDelete- Tj
U got me readin the whole thing even
ReplyDeletethough I hate readin such big articles