Lists & More..! (Part 2 of 11)

Continuing from the previous post, I move on to the preparatory phase of the event. 

Twenty days to the scheduled day, our relative in the village hands over a few lists to us, lists of the various things required for the Kola. He's a remarkable man- extremely hard-working, god-fearing, and also has a certain know-how of how things work. The lists are long, and look a little complicated. We come home and have a closer look at them.

Our initial thoughts are, how the hell are we gonna get all these things, and from where! 
Nevertheless, we go through the lists again, and again, and again, and yet again. And magically we start getting a few ideas. MS-Excel to the rescue! There are three different lists, one for the people who'd be setting up the area for the ritual (the mantap), one for the poojari (the person who's something like an intermediary between the netherworld and the people assembled), and the last one for the artists who don the colours and invoke the Spirits. In all there are about 60 different things in various quantities, sizes and shapes.
Firecracker Flower (aboli/abbolige)
There are things ranging from tender coconuts, arecanut, tender fronds of the coconut tree, to saree, mundu, and makeup for the artists. We also need a lot of flowers, with a special demand for firecracker flower (aboli/abbolige), earthenware, crackers, and of-course, decoration material to do up the area on the day of the event. We divide the lists into multiple small ones, and designate these to three different people (I'm in charge of the make-up and decoration as expected!). The next twenty days are spent shopping for these things, making contacts for certain items, and also, regular visits to the village. 
Such visits also mean a great way to unwind with loved ones and the calves and the cats, pick wild berries, catch great sunsets, and also to experiment with the camera.

As the D-day slowly approaches, so does our excitement begin to rise. With three days to the event, we are a bundle of nerves. The responsibility that we've taken up is big, and we fervently hope everything goes as planned. For which the answer is only one: Hope.


Comments

  1. Lovely post. I've always enjoyed Kola in my ancestral home without worrying about what effort it takes. So much gets into organising Kola which is not easy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sims, will put up more on this as and when I organise the multiple photos from that day :)

      Delete
  2. I have never heard about this before!! thanks for introducing me to a whole new festival and making the post so informative!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tell us more, we're listening Piyu... am totally new to this world!! :-) And it sure seems exciting!!

    Cheers, Archana - www.travelwitharchie.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Would you like to share your thoughts?