My earliest memories of  Vishu is when as a small child , I would visit my grandparents in a remote village , Varandhirappilly in Trichur . Since the summer vacations would start on the 1st of April , all the members of the clan, including my grandmother's 11 children, their spouses and their grand children would assemble in the grand old mansion. A day before Vishu arrangements would be made for the Vishu Kanni, meaning things to be seen on the day of Vishu in the pooja room . There in front of photos of god Vishnu, goddess Lakshmi , Guruvayoorappan and others  plates full of seasonal fruits like Jackfruit, mangoes, ripe bananas ,  bowls filled with 9 cereals or navadhanyam , a gold coin, yellow flowers of Amaltas , water , a huge mirror etc would be readied.  At the early dawn , we chidlren would be woken up and we would have to walk to the Vishu Kani with our eyes closed and sit in front of the kani, look at each fruit and flower and then look in to the mirror as well. This was supposed to be a good omen and that it would ensure a good new ear as well. After the vishu kani which would be at 4 o'clock in the morning, we would gather to burst fire crackers. Some among us , who were usually lazy afraid would sneek back to bed and would be hauled up , woken with  a spill of ice cold water and the diin of crackers burning in all neighbourhood would go on up to 6 or so in the morning.

Thereafter , it was time to bathe and get ready to collect ,the vishu kaineetam or money given by elders in the family. I had the good fortune of having many uncles and aunts, my mom being the fourth in a family of 11 children. I coudl collect vishu kaineetam from all my uncles as well as from my parents and grand parents and elder cousins in the family.

My younger brother woudl be the first to  have his bath and then a whole troope of little ones would bathe , wear new clothes and collect our vishu kaineetam. My uncles most of whom were bank officers woudl have brought new notes of 10 and 20 to distribute to the children.

After vishu kaineetam we would sit down to count our collection and would also scheme if we could get more from some visitors or the others. Overall it was a time to celebrate for children.

This was followed by a grand feast called sadya where in numerous vegetarian dishes would be cooked and served to all. The hierarchical order of sadya was such that the children had it first after which the men of the family sat down to have food , finally it was the turn of the women who had cooked up the whole sadya to sit down and eat . At this time , my grand father would come to serve the ladies ,saying that they needed to be appreciated for their hard work. this gesture of grand father  pleased every one.

Now several years later when I celebrate Vishu in my 2 bedroom flat in the city of Bangalore , I know that I am not doing justice to the tradition  of Vishu. Konna has been replaced by another yellow flower, instead of plaintain leaves , we have food in our steel plates and in the place of 15 vegetarian dishes we make do with just one or two.. the luxury of Vishu is a thing of the past.

In these times of growth and development , we malayalees like many others have given up the rituals and customs of our hallowed past for the less time consuming and simpler ways of modern living.

More than anything , this year is my first Vishu after the death of my only brother... I am reminded of his enthusiasm for celebrations of all kinds, his joy in giving and receiving, his  generous love ,his fetish for traditional practices...

I hope somewhere up in the sky , he too is thinking of us during this vishu...