Nov 1, 2010
The average American today, when talking of Halloween, thinks of a children’s holiday where all the children get dressed up and go door-to-door asking for candy. The folks who answer the door usually have comments like, "Oh, what a cute superhero!" or "Ooh, what a scary ghost!" and some asking them “ What’s your name?” and children proudly saying “ My name is super Mario, Lil Princess, Lil Prince etc.”
As I think of “ Halloween” or “All Souls Day” my memories go back to my childhood days, about the celebration in Mangalore and the stories my grandparents used to say of this special occasion. When I was child, I used to think of polle (dosas) on “All Souls Day” and Patholi on “All Saints Day”. We all used to call “All Souls Day” as “ Mellianche Fest” (day of dead) and “All Saints Day” as “ Santha Bokthacheim Fest” . However, my grandma used to make “ Polle”( dosas or rice pan cake) with chutney for breakfast and masli kodi (fish curry) and Kunkdache maas (chicken curry) for dinner. I still recollect going for mass in the mornings, then visit to cemetery to pray for the departed souls.
Our daily routine in the evening was, my grandfather used to say one or the other stories after having one or two pegs of kazuso soro (cashew penny). When I was 9 years old, I remember my grandfather saying narrating some stories, about “All Souls Feast” celebration when he was a boy..
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The story goes this way. In those days, they used to make dosas and bangde nisthe for feast dinner. They were disciplined and had family dinner after the family prayer. So before the prayer everybody had to be done with taking shower. Mellianche fest was a special day with long prayers remembering all the ancestors, praying “sasnaso vishev” or RIP diseased member of the family. However, my grandfather used to say, he would not remember how many times he had to utter RIP prayer.
In those days the food was limited. Whilst everybody was seated to have dinner, their mother used to serve the food to all. But on that special day, when their mother served the food, she used to be reminded by my grandfather to leave a portion for the dead souls, thinking they might return to visit the family. Also, he used to ask them to make the hot water ready in the bathroom so that the dead ancestors can take shower as well...
Later, as my grandfather grew up he stopped the practice as he realized no dead souls come back.
Well, as I was a child, listening to the story I used to think, wish the concept of our great grandparents were real, so that we could have had a chance to see our great grandmother every year who had passed away the same year...
As I grew up, the trend of celebration changed especially when I moved out of the house for my masters degree and started working. It turned to be fun rather being religious way, by getting involved with various activities like wearing Halloween costumes and attending costume parties, and watching horror films among others.
Well, as I moved to the US, I have learnt many more ways of celebrating this day from my folks here. According to them it’s the custom for children to play “Trick or Treat”. They proceed from one house to the other with their Halloween costume asking for treats such as candy, or sometimes money with the question “ Trick or Treat?” If the homeowners opt for ‘trick” it would be a threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. This is usually in practice in the countries like USA, Canada, Britain, Ireland, UK, Italy, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico.
Apart from these, people try to have fun by being involved with activities like carving jack-o’ lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted places and committing pranks among others.
The name Halloween is derived from the old English era. According to historian Nicholas Rogers, it’s a Roman feast of Pomona which is typically linked with Celtic feast of Samhain. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the other world became thin on Samhain (on Oct 31- Nov 1) allowing harmless and harmful spirits to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise themselves as harmful spirits and thus avoid harm.
Jack o' the lantern is one of the most recognizable symbols of Halloween. It’s generally a vegetable carving with a light inside. The practice originated from an Irish myth. A man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree.
According to the folk tale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer and has been roaming the Earth ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern.”
As we celebrate this special day, I wish you all Happy Halloween’s day with a tale which was told by my grandparents just to scare us. Once upon a time there was a lady who used to make polle for mellianche fest. As she was making them, somebody lent a hand from the window. She thought it was one of her family members and placed the pollo on his hand without noticing it. But the second time she saw the hand, she realized it was a ghost and she placed hot kailatho (spatula) on his hand and the ghost ran away.
Wonderful feast to all.
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