A Most Memorable Onam

Those of you who may have missed my chirographies, I am back (If no one, I am there....)
This time its about Onam. Onam.The festival, which bonds every Malayali together, similar to, dissimilar components in a collage. A Malayali, irrespective of his religion, caste and region, wishes to be present at his home in Kerala to have the afternoon lunch. This lunch is a grandeur feast that would shed his worries and satiate him for sometime. Onam falls in the month of chingam, the first one in the Malayalam calendar at a time when the constellation would be Leo (Leo or Lion is called Simham in Malayalam hence the variation, chingam). It is the time when nature embellishes herself between the Idavapathi (NE Monsoon) and Thulavarsham (SW Monsoon) similar to a damsel on her wedding day, preparing for the transformation from a girl to a woman. (I can't part with more metaphors and similes so let me try and avoid their usage.)

As the folklore goes, Onam commemorates the return of the legendary Asura King Maha Bali who was trampled on by Vamana-the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and banished to hell. It is believed that before he agreed to this act of treachery from the lord, the king got a boon for visiting his subjects once a year. This yearly visit by the great Maha Bali is what is now celebrated as Onam.

Onam brings back fond memories from my childhood. The memories from times when we tied Oonjaal (swings) to coconut trees, had floral decorations on the 10 days of Onam called Pookkalam, played Pulikkali (a game of tiger), watched boat races, visited our ancestral home, ate delicacies and sang melodious songs. There is also the adoring memory of my grand father getting me Onappanthu (a new hand ball) whenever we visited his house on this occasion .I could never think of missing Onam, it was so very important to me. Infact, it is so important that my age reflects on the number of occasions I had celebrated Onam. However, it seemed like my stoic companion Mr. Fate had something altogether different in store for me this year.

Being thousands of miles away from my hometown did not in anyway hinder my Onam visits back home for the past two years. But this time because of my little sisters nuptials I had to pre-pone my Kerala visit and hence sacrifice my Onam at home. I didn’t think it would affect me much since Pune- the cultural city was already being tickled by Lord Ganesh's blessing. Deadlines crept up in my project. We became nocturnal beings missing breakfast for a week. The irony was that, 15th of September - the day of Onam was the same day when we had a major delivery from our team. As the day neared my mind had already taken leave from my body. It was already wandering around paddy fields, throwing pebbles that drew ripples on the pond, smelling the payasams (a sweet dish), adulating the Onanilavu (moonlight at this season), feeling rejuvenated from the festive air, wearing kodi-mundu (traditional attire for the occasion) and awaiting the arrival of Maveli (or Mahabali) with my progenitors. The only way to bring him back was to have a feast on the day of Thiruvonam (The 10th day of Onam). A decision was taken by me and one of my Malayali colleagues, Naveen to go to a famous kerala food joint called "Southern Spice” and having the Sadya (or feast) from there.

After getting permission we cruised towards the food joint in the mid-afternoon through the drizzling rain. How could the rain-god stop us from satisfying the hunger of our soul? On reaching our destination we found that it was crowded with other Malayalis from all over Pune. To get a place to atleast sit seemed impossible. We logically hit on the idea of getting the feast parceled. I could not control my excitement and had a tough time holding plantain leaves and guarding the pappadams (papads) from not breaking when we ran into potholes. We reached Naveen's home and spread the thooshanila (plantain leaf), switched on a Malayalam channel (ambience needed of course), adorned the leaf with the pickles and other curries and started splurging. I will walk you briefly through the process of eating a Keralian feast. The leaf will be served with all the pickles, curries and the pappadam on it. The first course of rice is to be had with daal, followed by another with sambhar, after which two to three different varieties of payasams follow, then it is the turn for rasam and pullissery (a kind of butter milk) with more rice of course. Sounds heavy, doesn’t it? Yes, so it is and delicious too. We struggled to make out which curry was packed into which parcel and sometimes we ended up pouring the wrong one onto the leaf but somehow we cupped our hands and scooped up the fluid remaining on the leaf. We managed to lap it up in half an hours time .It was not the most delicious feast I had, but it surely quenched the hunger of my transcendental companion - my stomach. After that, I called home where my parents were celebrating Onam with my sister and brother in law. They were happy to know that I had somehow managed a feast atleast.

Friends, I want to end this composition by playing the harp on a philosophical note. What is Onam? Is it just a festival celebrated by Malayalis across the world? Or is it just an event for getting together and celebrating? Or is it just an occasion to remember the culture that we forget? No. It is not just any or all these. Onam is an embodiment of the responsibility a person has toward his roots, his ancestors, his culture and his soul. It cannot be bound in the reins of caste, creed or religion. As long as I continue counting in Malayalam (something I can never avoid) I will fulfill this responsibility.

Eventhough a little belated, I wish you all a very happy Onamashamsakal (Onam Wishes)!