Balakrishna's talks about Sankranti

Celebrating Sankranti in my village, Nimmakuru is the most defining memory of my childhood. I was born in Chennai and grew up in Hyderabad so a visit to our ancestral home for Sankranthi was something all the kids in the family looked forward to. The festival is the time for family bonding and my dad would set everything else aside to make time for it.Nanagaru (late NTR) would invite the whole family and gift new clothes (traditional pancha) to the sons-in-law. It���s a family tradition that I try to keep alive.
Making the gobbemmalu Our house would be decorated with flowers and Rangoli (muggu). The court-yard would be cleansed with cow dung mixed water. Watching the women in the household decorate the muggus with Gobbemmalu ��� round balls of cow dung decorated with turmeric and flowers ��� in the front yard, was a delight. The festivities would start from the day of Bhogi. We���d start collecting discarded furniture and dry wood for the bonfire the night before. We also use to spend time listening to Haridas sankeerthana.
Watching cockfights with my brother My brother (Harikrishna) and I used to watch cock-fights in the village with awe. After performing Pooja, we used to go to our estate with our kids to fly kites.
Feasting on banana leaves The entire family would have lunch served on banana leaves. Home made sweetmeats like ariselu, payasam, kajjikayalu, etc were my favourites.
Of Veedhinatakalu and movies The evenings would come alive with magical Veedhi Natakam (street plays) performances as the artistes dressed up as mythological characters. Of course watching my dad���s films was another must do for all the kids.