By Manoshi De Silva
Ayan went to the kitchen to fill his water bottle. His mother and grandmother were both busy making traditional sweets for Avurudu. Ayan's grandmother smiled with a twinkle in her eye and said, "We are going to fry kevum now! Are you coming to help us?"
Every year Ayan's grandmother helped his mother make Avurudu sweetmeats and celebrated Avurudu traditions with them. Ayan always stayed around their kitchen when they made Avurudu sweetmeats because he always got the broken ones to eat then and there.
"No Achchi, I have to go practice for the Avurudu marathon," said Ayan. "It's the top event of this year's Avurudu Uthsawaya!" Ayan ran out and joined his best friend Jagan who was waiting for him. Jagan's family celebrated the Tamil New Year. Although the traditions were different, the excitement was the same for both of the boys.
When Ayan came home in the evening, his mother and grandmother had finished their cooking. "Tomorrow I am making mung kevum. Maybe we can sit together and enjoy frying them," smiled his grandmother. "I won't be able to do any of that this time. I have to practice and somehow win first place at the Avurudu marathon!" said Ayan, who failed to notice the sadness in his grandmother’s face.
The next day Ayan and Jagan sat down, after practicing for awhile. "You will win for sure!" said Jagan. "I wonder what the gift for first place is," said Ayan who was pretty confident about winning. "I heard that all the prizes are donations made by the people in our village," said Jagan. "I hope they have something nice for the marathon winner," he giggled nudging Ayan.
That evening Ayan went home late again. His mother and grandmother had finished making Avurudu goodies by the time he went home. "Let's go shopping tomorrow and buy new clothes for the Sinhala New Year," smiled his mother. Ayan frowned. "Not this time," he said, "I have to practice. You two go with Thaththa." Ayan's grandmother and mother both felt sad but they smiled and agreed with him.
The ‘Avurudu Uthsawaya’ was held two days before Avurudu Day. There were many games and competitions organized. Ayan and Jagan took part in the marathon. Ayan won first place easily, just as everyone predicted. After events like the tug-of-war, climbing the grease pole, selection of the Avurudu Kumari etc., it was finally time for the prize distribution.
Ayan received his gift, which was a somewhat heavy box, covered in brown paper. "What could this be?" he thought in excitement. After the Avurudu Uthsawaya finished, Jagan helped Ayan carry his gift home. But they stopped on the way, because Ayan couldn't wait to see what was in his gift box.
"What is this?" Ayan said in disappointment after he opened his gift. It was a box full of things like soap, toothpaste and such items. "Well these gifts are donations you know," shrugged Jagan. "Maybe they thought the winners will find these items useful for their homes." "This is not at all what I hoped for!" sulked Ayan, "I thought I'd get something that I would like. This is so embarrassing I won't even tell my family about this," "Hey but you won and that's what matters," said Jagan, trying to cheer him up but Ayan was not the least bit happy.
Ayan went home and pushed the gift box under his bed. He didn't even tell his family that he had won, because he didn't want to tell them about his gift. "The day after tomorrow is Avurudu and I am not even feeling happy. Avurudu used to be such a happy time in the past," he thought sitting on his bed feeling miserable.
"Putha look at the clothes we got!" smiled his mother who peeped in to his room with shopping bags. "We also made aluwa today. You love aluwa don't you?" smiled his grandmother. Seeing their happy smiles, Ayan realized why he was feeling sad. It was not just the disappointment of getting a gift he didn't like. There was a bigger reason.
Ayan realized that this year he had missed all the family activities that he enjoyed during Avurudu in the previous years. The happy moments he shared with his family, sitting in the kitchen, joking, listening to the stories his Achchi told and tasting the freshly-made sweets. Going shopping with his family, the togetherness and happy moments that came with Avurudu – he had missed all of this because he was more focused on winning, just to get a gift that didn't even matter anymore.
"They have done so much to make Avurudu special, but I just ignored all that," thought Ayan, feeling guilty. "Avurudu is a time for the family to unite. I must make things right. I should do something to make them happy!" Ayan got an idea and pulled out his gift box from under the bed. There were enough things in there to make gifts for everyone in the family.
On Avurudu Day, giving betel leaves and worshipping elders was a tradition. Ayan worshipped his family members. He then surprised all of them by giving them a small gift each. He told them how he had won the Avurudu marathon and got his gift box. How happy he was with his gift box now, because he could share it with his family. Ayan's family was so happy to hear all this and to receive gifts from him.
Carrying a plate of sweetmeats to Jagan's house, along with a gift made from his gift box, Ayan realized how happy he was finally feeling. He was feeling very cheerful by sharing his gift with others and especially by making his family members happy. It was truly a very special and delightful Avurudu Day for him and he couldn't stop smiling.
