KNANAYA Culture & Traditions
Dear All
I need to first say, this is a commendable initiative to bring our far- strung community members closer. In a time when people sit for hours on end mailing, blogging, chatting or exploring other recesses of the cyberspace.. its a brilliant idea to open up this avenue for knanites to make themselves heard and get clued in about issues facing knanites elsewhere.
Some very thought-provoking questions have come up- our unique roots, culture and tradition, our legacy of drinking, our lifestyles and hope for the future..the road ahead.
This last message i read,really hit me. Yes,we may have a very different cultural contour,yes,we may be a people of pride and yes, we may want to uphold all that we stand for against erosion over time.But it all boils down to, what are we doing about it?
I grew up in Saudi Arabia,where Christian gatherings of any sort are held in secret. This is probably why our thriving Knanaya Fellowship is still so dear to me. In the land of the two great mosques,in the lap of the Arab world, I learnt to love my knanaya heritage.
The love,comraderie,brotherhood and most of all thirst for the lord I saw there, set a standard..which none of the gatherings or masses I attended in kerala seemed to match.
--Somehow in the monotonous cycle of going to church every Sunday are we losing the spark?the excitement that goes with being a kna?
I say,parents talk to your children about what it means..include them in functions and rituals. let them see the beauty of every little act. Encourage curiosity, Cultivate interest.thats how we can broaden deepen and preserve our culture..by making sure it seeps down to the generations to come.
Recently a new sensation that took the music industry by storm has been a malayalam rock band 'AVIAL'. their first song had everyone floored. its called 'Nada Nada'. While all my friends had the same interpretation, it means to walk walk . It struck a different chord with me, having heard our traditional 'nada villi' at weddings. while it may not have any relevance to the song per se, maybe just an inspiration..it did give me a chance to reflect on the beauty and uniqueness of our marriage rites.
it would be wonderful for me and am sure most of the youth out there, to delve deeper into the pages of our history, to learn to cherish our practices and hold our beliefs high. it would be wonderful to see us all make a conscious effort to make this happen.
regards,
jolin joseph
Stella Maris College,Chennai
(Kalathilparambil House)