THA LIFESTYLE
| READERS SECTION
THA READERS PAGE!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first issue
of your magazine, and felt you have already
covered a wide variety of different and relevant topics. It looks like a fantastic platform
to help people from Tamil areas to integrate into life in England. I would even go as
far as saying I’m sure it will become a must
read for people coming into this country
from many other countries too. I even found
articles in there about British life which even
I was unaware of. Congratulations to you
and your team on a great first issue and I
look forward very much to reading issue 2
when it comes out.
Chris Antram
I am pleased very much to see the beautiful
magazine Tha – Life Style. It is reflecting the
rich culture of Tamil people, bearing greater
significance of living in harmony with nature.
Respecting nature is the real worship of God.
This was known well in the past. To have a
prosperous and happy life they gave importance to respecting nature. To inculcate this
wisdom into the society, our great thinkers
brought in this truth into the ceremonies
related to various aspects of life so that everyone learns to live in consonance with it.
In this regard, I like to add further in understanding about “Kanni kaal planting (Tree
Planting)”. The motto behind it is to grow
more plants and enrich nature. With the
same aim, in Tamil Nadu, Tamil people have
similar habit of having a small ritual at the
start of the marriage ceremony.
Years back, at the days where the marriage
was taking place, we can see two decorated
mud pots with water. In the middle a sapling,
with a support stick, of a tree adapted to
that environment is kept. The sapling is also
adorned with flowers and red ribbon. The
marrying couple is seated in front of these
arrangements. The Marriage Ceremony
starts with offering of worship to the plant.
Before the concluding the marriage ceremony, the married couple takes the sapling
and the decorated water pots, with great
reverence, to their garden and they plant it
by swearing that “we will raise this sapling
carefully to its flourishing so as it makes to
flourish our family”.
This ceremony is called “Arasu Aanai Kaal
Naduthal”. The name of the ceremony itself
implies that “It is the Order of the King”. In
those days, the rulers were well-wishers
of people. They were well aware of the
importance of maintaining the bio-diversity
through maintenance of forest. So, they
ordered that anyone entering married life
should give assurance that he will plant a
tree and maintain it. As the king, he himself
could not be present at everyone’s marriage; this swearing is taken in the presence
of the society (those who have gathered
to wish the couple) on behalf the king.
Then only the next steps of marriage are
performed.
Nowadays, the meaning, the nobility and the
importance of the ceremony “Arasu Aanai
Kaal Naduthal” is lost. It has become a very
meaningless ritual as follows.
In most marriages, this first ceremony of
taking the pledge of grow