The festival of Pongal is celebrated today, usually by people of Tamil origin, which includes me. My earliest memories include in no particular order: sun & sun worship, cow & cow worship, the colour white, sugarcane, Kamal Hassan, venpongal & chakkaraipongal, a pile of ashes in front of each house, long holidays, special programs on TV, traffic-less Chennai, and Tamil the language.
Ever since I moved to Sweden I never got the chance to celebrate the festival in India, including this year. I do hope I get the chance to observe Pongal celebrations in India someday.