Nimali's New Year Morning

In the middle of April, the whole of Sri Lanka gets ready for a new year. Nimali's family had cleaned the house until it shone, and Amma had been making sweets for days. "The New Year begins when the sun moves into a new part of the sky," said Seeya, "so the special times are worked out carefully every year."

There were crunchy, flower-shaped kokis and sticky, golden kavum. Nimali was allowed to eat just one before the New Year. She chose a kokis and made it last a very long time.

Before dawn, Nimali heard a bird calling outside. "That is the koel bird," said Seeya, her grandfather. "When I was small, we said its song meant the New Year was coming."

The family followed a list of special times. At one time, everyone stopped working and went to the temple. Next door, Nimali's best friend Kavya and her family were celebrating too. For Tamil families, the day is called Puthandu, and Kavya's mother had drawn a beautiful pattern called a kolam with rice flour on the doorstep.

At the next special time, Amma lit the new fire in the kitchen. She put a clay pot of milk on the flame. Everyone gathered around to watch.

The milk got hotter and hotter. It began to bubble. Then, whoosh, it boiled up and spilled over the side of the pot.

"Hooray!" everyone cheered. "Milk overflowing is a sign of plenty for the year ahead," said Seeya.

Amma made kiribath, rice cooked in coconut milk and cut into diamond shapes. The family ate the first meal of the New Year together, facing the direction from the list.

Then Nimali gave her grandparents betel leaves with a coin tucked inside, and bowed to show respect. Seeya gave her a blessing and a new pencil case.

In the afternoon, the neighbors came out to play games. Kavya beat Nimali at the pillow fight on a pole, and Nimali beat Kavya at the sack race. Someone played the raban drum, boom, boom, ba-boom, until the sun went down.

"Happy New Year," said Kavya. "Suba Aluth Avuruddak," said Nimali. They laughed, and said it in each other's languages too.

⭐ The End ⭐