So, the Navarathri season just got over, I really thought I should give you guys a taste of Pettai Golu. So, here goes the looong list…
Golu PaDi Setting: This is one of the starting jobs my dad and mum were supposed to do- Done with a lot of fits and grumbling, they used to set it up anyway. I usually ended up as the one who had to sort out the nails and screws for the paDi joints; my sis and granny would carry it further by covering up the wooden parts with dad’s old veshTis.
Golu Bommai Setting: Cleaning up the loft and the carton boxes which are stuffed with the bommais of I dunno which era; this was one work, me and sister used to love to do. Dad used to get the boxes down, me and sis used to remove the cloth covered bommais as if there were some ancient treasure, commenting non-stop on what should go where- though I should admit that paTTi’s word was always final. My favorite bommais included the Dasavartharam set and the Chettiar-Chettichi set.
Oh and of course, the “Park” setting- getting soil from chitti’s garden, placing it on paper and sprinkling mustard seeds on it. It normally was sis’s job to keep make sure it grew during the 9 days and also clean the small little pond we made by thermocol dabbas.
Visitors and Visiting: Aah..the number of maamis visiting the house, their tales of how-grand-their-marumagal’s-golu and then its comparison with their neighbor’s was the main routine of entertainment!! Also, the goody bags along with the Vethala Paakus were always a point that was bragged about. “Ooh, you know for Golu this time, I bought some make up set; thought it would be nice to give it to the young girls who would come home”- the costlier, the fancier; the fancier, the better to brag about. Anyways, the worst part of this visiting business would be when you have to sing in front of the Golu setup. I and sis would be under pressure to practice songs taught by our paaTu maami, and re-render it in front of the hawk-eyed maamis- you see, feedbacks are usually sent to our paaTi, so we HAD to do the perfect impression of the Briha when we sang Brova-Bharama. Songs couldn’t be repeated for neighboring houses, so we had to do a preliminary shortlist which our paaTi would give a go-ahead for.
When we were younger, we were usually dressed up in costumes and sent off to get Vethala Paakus- Lord Krishna, Japanese lady, Madisaar Maami- the whole package used to so colorful. We used to gear up for these costume parties…well, all we wanted was that packet of sundal Rama maami made. :D
All said and done, I do miss these crazy aspects of Golu; Sitting here, in some corner of India, I really would love a visit, grab a potlam of sunDal and spend time with sis and home. Though, I did catch up with Ram-Leela, I do really miss home. Can’t wait for Diwali…Chennai..here I come!!!
Golu PaDi Setting: This is one of the starting jobs my dad and mum were supposed to do- Done with a lot of fits and grumbling, they used to set it up anyway. I usually ended up as the one who had to sort out the nails and screws for the paDi joints; my sis and granny would carry it further by covering up the wooden parts with dad’s old veshTis.
Golu Bommai Setting: Cleaning up the loft and the carton boxes which are stuffed with the bommais of I dunno which era; this was one work, me and sister used to love to do. Dad used to get the boxes down, me and sis used to remove the cloth covered bommais as if there were some ancient treasure, commenting non-stop on what should go where- though I should admit that paTTi’s word was always final. My favorite bommais included the Dasavartharam set and the Chettiar-Chettichi set.
Oh and of course, the “Park” setting- getting soil from chitti’s garden, placing it on paper and sprinkling mustard seeds on it. It normally was sis’s job to keep make sure it grew during the 9 days and also clean the small little pond we made by thermocol dabbas.
Visitors and Visiting: Aah..the number of maamis visiting the house, their tales of how-grand-their-marumagal’s-golu and then its comparison with their neighbor’s was the main routine of entertainment!! Also, the goody bags along with the Vethala Paakus were always a point that was bragged about. “Ooh, you know for Golu this time, I bought some make up set; thought it would be nice to give it to the young girls who would come home”- the costlier, the fancier; the fancier, the better to brag about. Anyways, the worst part of this visiting business would be when you have to sing in front of the Golu setup. I and sis would be under pressure to practice songs taught by our paaTu maami, and re-render it in front of the hawk-eyed maamis- you see, feedbacks are usually sent to our paaTi, so we HAD to do the perfect impression of the Briha when we sang Brova-Bharama. Songs couldn’t be repeated for neighboring houses, so we had to do a preliminary shortlist which our paaTi would give a go-ahead for.
When we were younger, we were usually dressed up in costumes and sent off to get Vethala Paakus- Lord Krishna, Japanese lady, Madisaar Maami- the whole package used to so colorful. We used to gear up for these costume parties…well, all we wanted was that packet of sundal Rama maami made. :D
All said and done, I do miss these crazy aspects of Golu; Sitting here, in some corner of India, I really would love a visit, grab a potlam of sunDal and spend time with sis and home. Though, I did catch up with Ram-Leela, I do really miss home. Can’t wait for Diwali…Chennai..here I come!!!
