Kamat's Potpourri - Festivals of India

The Yugadi Festival

Yugadi (a.k.a. Ugadi) is the first day of the Hindu calendar (first day of the first month, the Chaitra).

In some parts of India, the tender leaves of neem mixed with jaggery are distributed on the occasion. The neem, extremely bitter in taste, and the sweet and delicious jaggery, signify the two conflicting aspects of human life -- joy and sorrow. The combination is exchanged between friends to symbolize renewed warmth and love overcoming the difficulties of life. It is also an occasion to forgive old debts and forget old disputes.

The Song of Yugadi

The Song of Yugadi
by D.R. Bendre

Ages after ages,
Millennium after millennium,
The Yugadi keeps on coming!
Bringing with it new joy
of the new year and of a new life.

I can hear the melody of the love-struck beetle,
on the golden lush fields.
As the Yugadi fills my 'neem'-filled life
with the aroma of a tender flower,
renewing the magic of the Master!

As the green leaves of Mango,
in all their magnificence,
wait for the arrow of Kama,
I can see the fleet of parrots,
camouflaged amidst the leaves, rejoicing
and singing the sweet music of a great harvest.

-Excerpted and Translated from Kannada Original Yugadi, by Da. Raa. Bendre
- Translation by Vikas Kamat

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The Song of Yugadi

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