Last week, Mumbai’s Coorgi community celebrated Kailpodh, a festival to signal the end of transplantation of the paddy crop. Agricultural implements and weapons were worshipped. “Our festivals,” says MM Somaya, president of the Coorg Association Mumbai (CAM) and former India hockey captain, “help us get back to our roots.”

Coming up next, say CAM members, is Kaveri Sankramana in mid-October that celebrates the birth of the river in Coorg. November will bring with it the harvest festival, Puttari. On these occasions, the Association’s catering committee meets in the office building in Airoli to prepare traditional delicacies such as pandhi curry (pork curry), kadambuttu (rice dumplings), akki oti (rice roti) and thambuttu (a sweet dish made with bananas). “This has been the tradition since the establishment of the Association,” says Lekha Nanjapa, head of the catering team, “Initially, people carried food from their homes, but gradually, we started gathering a day before to cook in the community kitchen, spending a fun afternoon over stories and gossip. The kitchen has old brass cauldrons with kalai coating, large enough to cook 20-25 kilos of food at one time.”