First festival of the year ...
Hardly coming out of the new year mode ... and lo!! .. here is Makar Sankranti ... the 1st festival of this year .. :) This festival is celebrated with different names in different parts of our great country ... in the southern state of Tamil Nadu it's Pongal the harvest festival. While in northern parts of the country it's the Lohri. In Maharashtra and adjacent states we celebrate it as Makar Sankranti ... As kids, we used to love this day for the 'Tilgul' - it's a sweet made from sesame seeds and jaggery, embellished with dry fruits and coconut shavings. We had this custom of wearing new cloths and going to people's houses offering to give them tilgul and they return the same gesture mostly with gifts as well for the kids - be it just a pencil or a few coins .. :) Tilgul is offered to people as a gesture of renewing ties, forgetting fights and coming back together. "Tilgul ghya ... god god bola amcha tilgul sandu naka ... amchya shi bh...