City gears up for Pongal with outdoor activities

Starting January 14, Chennai takes a long break that includes a weekend. Residents are preparing to make the most of it

Jallikattu, in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, is world-famous during Pongal for showing off the bravado of young men who try to tame raging bulls.

But for those born and raised in the metro, sailing, rock climbing and camping come close.

Sailing up and down the east coast and spending a night on a strip of land sandwiched between Pulicat lake and the Bay of Bengal at Karangali hamlet are activities planned this Pongal by Dairiyam, a Chennai-based group.

Starting January 14, the city takes a long break that includes a weekend, and this group, led by Dipankar Ghose, has packed in a lot of activities for two days.

“We have been organising such events from the 1980s. We have a fleet of eight sail boats that can accommodate 30 people who are willing to sail. All the boats will have trained sailors in charge. In two days, we do about eight hours of sailing. We have also planned adventure sports in Pulicat. We have families and mixed groups participating,” he says.

Talking about tradition, Kolathur’s Everwin Group Schools celebrates Pongal in a very traditional manner. This year, they have brought grinding stones, and pestle and mortar to the school premises and prepared pongal with

kaikuthal (hand-pounded rice).

“We want to demonstrate how the festival is celebrated traditionally. Pongal is symbolic of a lot of things — one of them is hard work. We do not want children to spend all their time watching television,” says B. Purushothaman, chairman of Everwin Group.

Terrace farming is

all the rage now

The terraces of Chennai are increasingly becoming green havens.

Residents living in individual homes as well as apartment complexes are putting open spaces to good use as terrace gardening catches up.

G. Ramakrishnan, a horticulturist, says his phone does not stop ringing these days, with people calling him up with doubts on mastering the art of terrace gardening.

With the space allotted to gardens in apartments rapidly shrinking, the terrace is being transformed to make up for the lack of green spaces.

People prefer to grow vegetables and ornamental plants, says Mr. Ramakrishnan. “Brinjal, ladiesfinger, tomato, mint, coriander, green chilli and curry leaves are staples one sees in the city. Moreover, these are all grown organically so people get toxin-free vegetables at the end of the day. With prices soaring, growing one’s own vegetables is never a bad idea,” he says.

Padma Naik, a resident of CIT Colony who also nurtures a terrace garden, says: “All you need is the interest and a little time. Once you start looking after plants, they almost become like your own children. Right now, my garden is in full bloom as many of the plants are in flowering stage.”

Mr. Ramakrishnan says there are certain things people should keep in mind. “Being on the terrace, the plants require frequent watering, at least twice a day during summer. Getting the right containers for each plant is also very important. Moreover, when travelling, people must find someone to maintain the garden, otherwise many plants could wither. This is a challenge even I grapple with, with my own terrace garden,” he says.

(Reporting by

Deepa H. Ramakrishnan and Nitya Menon)