Shruti Haasan: For me, Pongal in Chennai always meant going to my godmother’s house

For actor Shruti Haasan, Pongal is associated with special memories from the days spent as a kid in the lanes of Chennai. This year, she will be celebrating the festival of harvest in Mumbai, and says it has always been about leaning back on good food and vibe.

“I’m not a very big festival person. The only two festivals which we really ever celebrated were Christmas and Pongal. I don’t know how, but it just kind of happened that way always,” says Shruti, daughter of superstar Kamal Haasan.

Reminiscing about the festival, which is a four-day-long auspicious festival, which starts from January 14, the actor shares, “For me, Pongal in Chennai always meant going to my god mother’s (Vishalam’s) house. She served a traditional South Indian spread. And we went to her place for years and years, maybe till I started working, and couldn’t travel every time because of work commitments or any other reason. For years, I ate at my god mother’s house in Chennai. We would go to her house for Pongal. And that is what Pongal is associated with while growing up in Tamil Nadu.”

So, for her, the festival is more about “positivity, harvest, good energy and really just amazing food”. And that’s what she hopes the festival brings for everyone this year.

“Good health and prosperity is the wish one wants to make this year. When it comes to harvest, it means so many different things… These old festivals and the tradition can be adapted to what it means to you today,” she asserts.

Explaining her point, the Behen Hogi Teri (2017) actor mentions, “Harvest could be related to ideas, business for different people… This is the time, we all need these three things in our life in the pandemic era. That’s because we as a humanity have learnt that we are not invincible, and we can’t just carry on as usual. So, I think that the ethos of the festival is particularly poignant this year, because we need good health and happiness and positivity.”