Vishu Lunch at Rameshwaram

Vishu marks the Malayalam New Year — a quiet, steady reminder of fresh beginnings. It’s a day that encourages us to start the year with clarity, gratitude, and a sense of hope. Simple traditions like the Vishukkani and seeking blessings from elders set the tone for the months ahead.

Vishu has a way of bringing a quiet joy into the heart — that feeling of a fresh beginning, a gentle blessing for the year ahead. Even though it’s a festival rooted in Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu, somehow the essence of it travels all the way to Los Angeles and settles right into our Chinmaya Mission community.

This year, on April 12, our celebration felt like stepping into a little slice of Kerala. Everywhere you looked, there was beauty. The ladies came dressed in elegant Kerala saris, the men in crisp mundu, and the kids in their adorable traditional outfits — tiny veshtis, pavada sets, and kasavu dresses. It was impossible not to smile watching them all; the whole hall looked like a moving painting of tradition and pride.

Our sevaks, with so much love and sincerity, served everyone on banana leaves. There’s something so grounding about that simple act — the way each person bends slightly, offering food with a smile, as if saying “this is for you, with love.” It’s seva in its purest form.

We were blessed to have Swami Ishwarananda, Brahmacharini Sandhyaji, Mahadevanji, and Viji Aunty join us. Along with them, our volunteers, CMLA members, and many CMLA families came together, adding to the warmth and community spirit of the day.

And the sadya — what a feast. The spread was incredible: olan/kallan, pachadi, kichadi, aviyal, kootu, cabbage thoran, puli inji, two kinds of rice, banana chips and sharkaravaratti, and of course the star that everyone kept talking about — the pineapple pachadi, sweet, tangy, and absolutely delicious. And just when we thought we couldn’t eat another bite, the sevaks arrived with four different payasams, each one better than the last.

But honestly, the food — as amazing as it was — wasn’t the highlight. The real magic was in the togetherness. Watching everyone serve each other, laugh together, help the kids with their banana leaves, and insist that someone try “just a little more” of something… it felt like being part of one big family kitchen overflowing with warmth.

That’s what Vishu at Chinmaya Mission really is — not just a festival, not just a meal, but a feeling. A reminder that no matter where we are in the world, when we come together with love, tradition, and gratitude, home is never too far away.

-- Sita Iyer