November Holidays

It was a typical Sunday morning, the weather is sultry and the sun was bright not like what I had been expecting. The news reporter just announced the other day that the tail of the storm "Santi" would still be playing its part in giving torrential rains and wind blows today but forecasts can also go askew. May be even storms can have a sudden change of heart or way, perhaps the latter may apply better.

This day might be less like extraordinary until I felt my back aches and boom! something caught me giving me a real quick head start. I realized I just gained the prize of helping my grandmother in cooking her specialty which is the Sinukmani (it is a kind of kakanin that is made up of brown sugar, rice and coconut milk). Granny would always cook this kakanin when our families are coming. So, how's this connected with the extraordinary thing? Well, the date tells it all... All Saints' Day have approached its 'festivity' this year.

The first of November holds an unbreakable tradition every year; families are reunited, old friends meet, people absolutely got a break from the world full of the breathing, vulnerable humans. Few days before this much awaited (?) day approach the season, people will visit and clean the tombs of their loved ones who left the earth much much earlier than them, so to speak. They will also buy flowers that is to be offered on the grave of those who passed away. And of course, foods will never be absent on the line of the what-to-bring-in-the-cemetery list. Preparation for this day seemed to be necessary just like how people prepare for the Christmas season yearly. On the day of the visit and one whole day stay in the said place, people will offer prayers and the other customary things will follow. The cemetery will look more like a park full of people having their picnics and non-stop chatting, be it meaningful or mundane, rather than a cemetery which should been silenced and honored for the solemnity that it holds. But I think this is an exchange for the one year silence in the cemetery. One day of blare would not hurt the spirits or may be it would (smiles).

All of these traditions may have become trivial and insignificant,  moreover these things become a practice that none of us would notice that the holiday is meant for 'them'. The true meaning and essence of this very day is not shared and felt. Despite of all the efforts and the plannings, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day are considered holidays for us to remember that despite the absence of our loved ones, they still linger. May be these days are also a chance for us to remind them that they are not forgotten. I do not say that we do not follow the same things that is mentioned above but what I say is we should understand that the celebration of this could still be possible without all of those mundane things.

Ciao.