There is an old lady in a village who is a great storyteller. Every evening, the village children gather around her to listen to her stories.
Day 1: The story starts just before the Pongal time. The old lady sits surrounded by a group of children. She describes the fields and its rich crops. She then stops to ask them if they know what day it is today. And they all shout in chorus that it is Bhogi. She nods and describes in brief about the essence of Bhogi, burning of unwanted stuff and recycling of old items.
The kids gather together and do a dancing around with the Molam. The dance and music is similar to that of Parai Aatam with children happily dancing to drums and its beats.
After a merry dance, the children wave and depart for the day.
Day 2: The children come back again to listen to the grandma’s story the next day. The old lady continues from where she stopped.
Days go by and the field becomes ready for harvesting with the crops waiting in full swing. The farmer looks around for help and waits for some days. Each day pass by, and there is no help at hand.
The old lady tells them that there should always be at least a small thanksgiving note to the farmers without whom there would have been no food in our plates. And that’s why Pongal is celebrated. Children decide to get together to make and eat Pongal.
After eating, the children do a Kummi dance in a circle, happily twirling around.
Day 3: The children come back to listen to the third part of the story. So the old lady continues. After waiting for a long time and getting no help, the farmer decides to do the harvesting himself.
The old lady mentions the story is over, with both the farmer and the wren being happy. And in the same context, she says that today being Maatu Pongal, let us honour and worship the farm animals.
As a part of the finale, there is a Kaalaiaatam/Oyilattam/Mayilattam to provide fun and entertainment to the children. Also, a person may come dressed in the shape of a big cow and they all pretend to go home together riding on the cow, happily waving.