Culture
Ugadi — The Beginning of a New Year
Festivals that are based on cycles of nature
Ugadi is a festival celebrated in Karnataka, a Southern state in India. The most likely origin of this word is from these two words — Yuga which is a period in time, and Adi which means the beginning. So Ugadi stands for the beginning of a period of time.
For us, followers of the Hindu calendar, Ugadi is the real start of the new year. A time for new beginnings. And most importantly, Ugadi heralds the entry of the king of fruits — the Mango!
Pretty much every Hindu festival has some component of nature incorporated in it — in the celebrations, in the food, in the timing of the festival. Ugadi is considered the day Lord Bramha created the universe. It also corresponds with the month of Chaitra. Chaitra masa or the month of chaitra is the beginning of spring.
A life lesson
As with any festival, we rise early, have a bath, and pray to the Gods. While there is no specific god associated with Ugadi, we always start our prayers by seeking the blessings of Lord Ganesh. He is important because he is known as the remover of obstacles or ‘vignanashaka’.
The most significant part of the festival, at least for me, is the pretty amazing ritual of eating what we call bevu-bella. Back in the days when I was a young kid living with my parents, I used to love this part.
Bevu-bella or neem-jaggery is made by pounding together tender neem flowers, jaggery, and a little ghee. This pasty gooey substance is a delight to eat. Part bitter, part sweet, bound together with delectable ghee, bevu-bella is like a small slice of heaven. You can’t eat much though because the neem part of it gets really bitter.
Concocting this was my dad’s job. Maybe that’s what made it super tasty. He poured so much love into it, and liberal doses of ghee and jaggery! Festivals are mainly about this, isn’t it? The making of memories as a family?
My daughter and I create this memory now by making it together. Both of us enjoy eating this quirky thing that most people may find strange. Who eats bitter neem? But the trick is to cover the bitter with ghee and jaggery so you have just a hint of it!
Bevu-bella is not merely a coming together of sweet and bitter ingredients. It is designed to be a lesson. When we eat it, we are supposed to reflect on the fact that it represents life. Life is like that, isn’t it — part bitter, part sweet? Because some aspects of life make us unhappy, we appreciate the happy parts more.
As we start the new year, this is a valuable takeaway.
Oh my God, the food!
No festival is complete without truckloads of food. In my home, this is the staple menu.
Plain white rice, rasam, mango chitranna, dal, beans curry, shavige payasa, ambode, kosambri, and curd rice.
Mango chitranna is special because, hey, mango season! This is a type of mixed rice made with grated raw mango, coconut, ginger, green chilly, and some amazing seasoning.
Shavige payasa is a sweet dish made using vermicelli, milk, sugar, and chopped dry fruits. I can’t write any more about this since my mouth is watering.
Ambode is an absolutely smashing combination of bengal gram (lentil), coconut, red chillies, green chillies, ginger, coriander, mint, curry leaves, salt, and pepper ground into a semi-solid state, flattened by hand, and deep fried. Oh God!
You get the idea. It is a feast. I think festivals were invented as a way to indulge all our food cravings in the name of God or nature. A creative excuse to break the monotony of daily food.
After all the heavy-duty eating is done, it is time for a short siesta. The evening is ushered in with the usual cup of strong coffee to the backdrop of the setting Sun. If we are lucky, and some ambodes are left over, they make for a great accompaniment to piping hot coffee.