Mangaluru: Roshini Nilaya organizes ’Aatid Onji Dina’

Mangaluru, 26 Jul 2016: The Departments of English and Kannada at School of Social Work Roshni Nilaya jointly organized ‘Aatid Onji Dina’ on July 25 in the college campus.

 

Ages ago, Aati was a month that was the toughest among all the others. The main reason for this is the heavy rain that restricted people to come out of their houses. It is a time for farmers to take rest after the sowing season for paddy in the fields.

 

 

In the present scenario, it is more likely that we tend to lean towards the new culture and tradition while forgetting our roots. So ‘Aatid Onji Dina’ was held to draw the attention of the younger generation towards the richness of our culture and tradition. There were two competitions: exhibit old artifacts, utensils and implements and talk about them and the other was to cook traditional food eaten during the month of Aati or the monsoon season in Dakshina Kannada.

 

Dr Malini Mukund, retired Professor in Sociology was the Chief Guest and she spoke about how we Indians were unique for there was nothing that was similar in terms of culture and tradition, but how despite the cultural diversity we were a nation that could assimilate all and remain in oneness. She also spoke about getting back to our roots and traditions and gave us a glimpse into our culture and heritage.

 

This was followed by a competition that judged traditional dishes that are symbolic of Aati such as Tojunk, Kerengda Balaaga, Appala, Uppad Pachill, Payasam, Patradey and many more. Competitions such as folk song singing, dancing naming traditional items and the best dressed traditional student were also held.

 

Dr Bhatt, Registrar spoke about how the month for the rural farmer and the agrarian was most laborious and not a festive one. He said, “We should remember that everything has a certain space in life and we need to know and respect that space.” He appreciated the effort to get students curious about culture.

 

Students who collected old articles to exhibit them felt it was a rich and fruitful experience. They made conscious inroads into the past, found out where and when and for what reason the articles were used for. This made them appreciate the past and understand how their ancestors lived. They felt their time was better as it was easier. They also felt that the past held more meaning for there was labour in every act and now it was more mechanical. Aatidu Onji Dina was spent in a meaningful way.