Decoding Culture and Structure
Highlights from our Latest Talk Series
24th June 2026
Today’s Speakers
Fenula
Swarna
Jothika
Preethi
Rangineetha
Today’s Talk Series in the II MA English classroom, took us all on a rewarding journey of learning and understanding, by connecting postcolonial studies with the unique cultural rhythms of South India.
Students beautifully brought out the special features and the uniqueness of the vernacular calendars of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Kerala.
Presenting excerpts from the insightful presentations.
Fenula opened the series with a thought-provoking question: “What comes to your mind when you think of the word ‘Structuralism?’”
Delving into the theories of Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, alongside Roland Barthes and Claude Levi-Strauss, Fenula broke down complex ideas into accessible concepts. Citing Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory, she emphasized a core tenet: things cannot be understood in isolation. Drawing a tree on the whiteboard, she asked the audience how they recognized it as a tree, explaining that we only know the meaning of a “hut” because we understand the concept of a “palace.”
Swarna elegantly took off from the thread, challenging the audience with another everyday example: “How do you describe an apple?”
When we think of an apple, we immediately signify it as a red, crunchy fruit with seeds. The brain processes this rich imagery even without a physical drawing. Meaning is always relational; we understand “hot” only because we have experienced “cold.” Similarly, the word “teacher” conjures an entire ecosystem - a classroom, chalk, a blackboard, homework. Every individual object within a system, Swarna concluded, helps in constructing the larger structure.
Shifting from linguistic structures to cultural ones, Jothika took the stage to discuss the 12 Tamil months and their profound significance.
She began with Chithirai, the first day that marks the Tamil New Year - a time for fresh kolams, special dishes, and new beginnings, and how it is celebrated in a grand way in Tamil Nadu, especially in Madurai with the grand Chithirai Thiruvizha. Then she spoke on the second month Aadi, also known as the monsoon month, featuring the Aadi Perukku festival, honouring the rising Cauvery River vital for sowing seeds. It is also a month dedicated to Amman temple festivals for protection against summer diseases.
Purattasi representing a month of discipline, making way for Karthigai, the Festival of Lights, when homes glow with clay oil lamps (agal vilakku), symbolising light triumphing over darkness, peaking with the magnificent beacon atop the Annamalai hill.
The month of Margazhi is considered entirely sacred and divine, human celebrations like weddings are paused. Women draw intricate kolams before dawn, the air fills with traditional chants, and modern Chennai transforms into a global hub for Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam.
Thai is considered to be the month of hope and harvest. Echoing the proverb “Thai pirandhal, vazhi pirakkum” (With the birth of Thai, a new path will open), this month kicks off with Pongal and ushers in the auspicious wedding season.
Rangineetha spoke next. She explored the unique interconnectedness of bioregions, culture, and society through the Telugu calendar. After engaging the audience with a nod to the Nani film Saripodhaa Sanivaaram, she highlighted a key difference: while the Tamil calendar is solar, the Telugu calendar is lunisolar, dictating specific social and spiritual rules.
The year begins with Ugadi celebrations in the month of Chaitram. The celebration is incomplete without Ugadi Pachadi, a dish blending six distinct tastes to represent the varied experiences of life. This month also features Sri Rama Navami and large-scale celestial weddings.
Ashadham is culturally known as the month of separation for newlyweds. Brides return to their parents’ homes to prevent pregnancies that would result in childbirth during the intense summer heat of Chaitram.
The month of Sravanam opens the floodgates for weddings and features Varalakshmi Vratam for family prosperity. Soon after, Aswayujam brings the massive nine-day celebration of Navaratri (Dasara).
Next comes Karthikam, a deeply spiritual month uniquely celebrated with community bonding. Families organise massive outdoor picnics (Karthika Vanabhojanalu) under Amla trees, while devotees observe strict fasting on Mondays (Karthika Somavaram).
Pushyamu is dominated by the three-day harvest festival of Makara Sankranti. The streets are transformed by women drawing massive rangolis decorated with Gobbemmalu (cow dung balls with turmeric and flowers), celebrating the region’s agrarian roots, she observed.
Wrapping up the series, Preethi shared insights into the Malayalam calendar, known as Kollavarsham, acknowledging her mother’s guidance in understanding its depths.
Established in 825 CE with the founding of the port city of Kollam, the calendar is a vital guide dictating the spiritual, agricultural, and social life of Kerala, she observed. Unlike purely lunar systems, Kollavarsham tracks the sun’s transit through zodiac constellations. This ensures major festivals like Onam (in Chingam) and Vishu (in Medam) remain perfectly synchronised with seasonal transitions.
Moreover, the calendar is an exemplification of bioregional ecological awareness as it is intricately tied to Kerala’s twin monsoons (Edavappathi and Thulavarsham). For centuries, it has served as an agricultural almanac, signalling the right times for planting, harvesting, and managing water reservoirs.
The Malayalam calendar also provides a standardised template and timeline for temple festivals like the Thrissur Pooram and ancestral rites, thereby fostering a shared identity among Malayalis globally.
Combining the traditional Panchangam with Kollavarsham, the calendar remains the essential framework for choosing auspicious dates muhurthams for weddings and business ventures, helping individuals align their lives with cosmic energies, she signed off.
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