From shopping to hometown trip: People gear up to celebrate Tamil New Year and Vishu in Chennai

CHENNAI: Public queued to purchase clothes and other commodities for the festival from wholesale to retail shops across the city. The expectation went up among the people as they could not celebrate any festival or go out with their beloved ones on any special occasions for the past two years.

“Due to Covid we panicked to step out of the house and could not even buy new dress for kids for an important occasion due to the financial crisis. We did not visit temples during the festival season. Even for Kaanum Pongal we were not able to go out as the government imposed complete lockdown on Sundays,” said Ganesh Baba R, a resident of Ambattur.

He added that after two years of online classes and work from home, we don’t have any restrictions now. We are happy to spend time with family and planned an outing for the Tamil New Year.

Even Malayalis celebrated Vishu virtually for two years as they were stuck in Chennai with cases surging across the country. This year, people are glad to celebrate the festival in their hometown after the pandemic.

“There is a malayalis association in our locality, there will be a grand celebration at least for a week. Due to coronavirus, it was stopped. Now, with the lockdown restriction eased and returned to normalcy, the festival mode in the city has already started. Finally, we can meet our family in Kerala for the festival,” said Srija P, a resident of Thiruvottriyur.

The students of Dr MGR Janaki College of Arts and Science for Women celebrated Tamil and Malayalam New year with ethnic attire on Wednesday. They performed traditional music and dances such Thappattam, Oyilattam, Karakattam, and Thiruvathira kali in the college premises.