On the thinnai

The article “Caged in a matchbox apartment, I pine for the pyol” (Open Page, Dec. 4) prompted me to write this. I am 60 and settled in Chennai. I belong to Thayamkulangara in Cherpu village of Thrissur. Our village home had a big thinnai with two pillars and wooden flooring, and a small thinnai. People watched the Thai Poosam festival of the local Murugan temple from these thinnais resembling the present-day cricket stadium. Those were the days of affection, caring, and attending to the well-being of relatives. Nowadays, youngsters living in nuclear families consider others a headache. Let us hope that the present culture will also change one day.

P.V. Sundaran,

Chennai