itemsoftamildiaspora

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01 Tamil Book/காதல் நாவல்கள்: My grandma has many of these Tamil books at home. I'm not able to read too well in Tamil so I've never read one myself but the book covers have always fascinated me.
02 Coconut Shaver/தேங்காய் துருவல்: A lot of Tamil food requires coconut shavings such as sambal, puttu and rava. This contraption is a manual coconut shaver but also a hand's biggest enemy. Everytime my mom pulls it out I avoid eye contact because I know she'll ask me to do it, but I end up with red hands and a cramp everytime.
03 Radio/வானொலி: My family spent a lot of time listening to the radio at home as I was growing up. My dad would specifically turn on the radio as we went to bed at night and everyday at 12AM, the "Pirantha Naal Indru Pirantha Naal" song would play. It used to scare me as a kid, but hearing it now makes me feel nostalgic.
04 Uthayan Newspaper/உதயன் பத்திரிகை: This newspaper has been around for a long time and has helped the Tamil community stay updated on news back home and in Canada. The sound of the flipping paper reminds me of my grandpa, as he would read one everyday without fail.
05 Calendar/நாள் காட்டி: These Tamil calendars are often distributed at Tamil stores or temples. Growing up I would be excited to pull out the month's page as it ended and kept them as a collection.
06 Iddiyapam Maker/இடியாப்பம் தயாரிப்பாளர்: This contraption is used to make murukku and iddiyapam. Both of these things take time and precision to make so we often bought it at bakeries instead.
07 Buddha Statue/புத்தர் சிலை: A Buddha statue like this often greets you at the front of every household. I remember the day we bought this one, my dad had told me it would give us good fortune, I expected to wake up rich the next day.
08 Trophy/பரிசு: As a kid I attended a lot of extra curriculars such Tamil class and music class. They often held events during Tamil festivals and this trophy was awarded to me after participating in a music contest at the festival.
09 Puberty Ceremony Gift/சாமுத்திய வீடு சிலை: Puberty ceremonies were often long and boring but I would always look forward to the thank you gifts we were given at the end. I remember standing in line and fighting with my sister on who would get the gift.
10 Prayer Book/பிரார்த்தனை புத்தகம்: My grandma has a big collection of prayer books and she spends a lot of her day reading them. The sound of her voice reading these books is always calming.
11 Sun Decoration/சூரியன்: This sun decoration rests at the front of my house. During pongal my mom brings it to the kitchen as we thank the sun for the year's harvest.