Happy Navarathri to everyone!
Every year around this time a couple of my posts on Navarathri and golu set up get a lot of hits.
This post is just a collection of these tips in one place:
I welcome you to our Golu this year. As they say in Tamizh, "Manjal kunkumam vaangikka vaango" (please come over to accept turmeric and vermillion"!
Let's start with the flowers:
The marrying folks, got married
.. and the Rajasthani quintet played along, while the displaced bricklayer, continued to be displaced!
On the other side of town, the Rajasthani immigrant couple had set themselves us nicely with a Chettiar store (yes, they are aware of the contradictions)
Meanwhile in the rural areas, it was business as usual:
with farmers ploughing the field
Cowherds, herding their cow:
More farmers plying their trade
Last year's harvest was so good, they even pitched in and bought a Spanish bull called Picasso
The hope was that the bull will prove useful in the fields.
But the bull turned out to only be interested in prancing, playing and dancing the tango!
You can see him hear, dancing behind the percussionists for the karagaattakkara troupe!
Although the karagattakkaras danced as per usual
the recent budget cuts meant that the props department was not functioning to full strength. The child artistes were not pleased.
Meanwhile.. in the nearby forest, the tribal folk had run out of most deer and were considering entering into trade agreements with the village folk
The town cricket championship was planned as per last year (see here), but last minute glitches implied that they had to play on some artificial turf. The match was proceeding well and in fact, a Bahamian Jazz duo were called in for the half time show
but... completely out of the blue, a disgruntled member of the football team from the nearby town, invaded the pitch and declared himself the winner of the match.
Imagine that! A football player the winner of a cricket match?? No amount of persuasion would make him sea reason.
All he would repeat was: You talkin' to me?
Most players were too stunned to say anything, but lay dazed, except for the bowler, who was literally too cut up about it!
The town folk decided that it will either have to be natural turf or nothing all, form next year on!
While all this commotion was going in the town cricket pitch, the ManEater of the local forest sauntered out of his lair and wondered: Now, which one should I pick for dinner tonight?
Watching all this, with Zen-like nonchalance was the main attractions, themselves:
Now, please partake of the goodies and see you all next year for the same festivities! Happy Navarathri!!
In the last post (click here) I identified some ways in which you can start your own "grass" for your golu. Here are some more ways in which you can "greenify" your golu.
1. Sod: If you have a backyard, you can always cut up a small patch of grass for your golu. Actual, real, grass. Grass as you know has a very shallow root system, so you don't really have to dig deep. This is what I landed up doing.
Line a shallow cardboard box with some plastic, sprinkle water regular -- but don't over water, you don't want to over water your plants. Most importantly leave it in a sunny place. If you don't have enough sunlight in your golu room, leave the light on during the day.
2. Artificial stuff: that green plasticky indoor outdoor carpet will be perfect for artificial grass, if you are into that sort of thing.
My own rural/forest scene was made from mustard sprouts, grass I dug up from the backyard, some snips of barberry shrubs (that made trees) a rock and some sand.
Tribal people hunting some deer. With a "mountain" in the back ground
the mustard seedlings that will become the fields
The mustard fields and the "puliyaattakkaran' procession on the village road the connects the forest to the clearing
Pitch perfect!
The karagattakkaran performance at the village clearing!
