Onam Vanne !!!!

Onam--- a word any Mallu would easily relate to... You need not be a Mallu - you just need to spend an Onam in Kerala -you would know the fervor attached to the festival ... Onam connotes different things to different people.. The pictures that Onam etched in my mind differed as time passed and as I grew.

Onam meant the dreadful Quarterly exams during my childhood days. It meant 10 day long holidays ,the new dress, a visit to my mothers village , a dip in the ponds there ,the swings my grandfather used to set up, running behind my grandmothers pet calf, away from books and homeworks and that restless wait for the one new movie which Doordarshan showed - the Onam special BLOCKBUSTER . Later as I grew up the visit to the village stopped( my grandparents had moved to city due to illness). That was the time when cable TV ingressed into our living rooms. Hence Onam meant those countless hours in front of TV ,browsing through the channels to find the different block busters and still 10 days of no books with a constant ping in the mind about the marks on the other side of this 10 days.

As years went by the ways Malayalis celebrated Onam changed - my views changed. During College days - Onam meant a break from the monotony of uniform - Girls in Sarees and Settu Mundu with flowers adorning everyones hair- Guys in the traditional Mundu fighting to keep it in place.Onam meant the Class wise Pookkala Matsaram ( Flower Carpet Competition) .It meant the Sadya ordered from Vinayaka - everyone fighting over the Payasam - the Sadya sitting down together - the Uriyadi Matsaram - the Vadam Vali. It meant watching the new movie together and spending 10 days in the anticipation of the reopening :)

Now 2nd Onam out of college - Onam means booking railway tickets 3 months in advance.. Coming home for my moms food ( which were never part of my earlier thoughts of Onam)- Putting the Pookkalam with my father everyday morning( something which I had taken for granted during my times at home) - watching the innumerable Onam Programmes in TV( I don't have a TV in Bangalore) , playing with Kichu( my cute neighbour- an LKG kid)...

Now I realise why Onam meant a lot to Mallus outside Kerala than those who stay in Kerala.. It is that time of the year when each and every Malayali around the world has the same song on his/her lips

"മാവേലി നാടു വാണിടും കാലം
മാനുശ്യരെല്ലരുമോന്നു പോലെ
ആമോദത്തോടെ വസിക്കും കാലം
ആപതോന്നര്ക്കും ഒട്ടില്ലതാനും"

Now I am the first one to wake up at home - run around to pluck flowers .. I take care of all such mundane things ,decide the flower combinations and am proud when a beautiful perfect pookkalam adorns my "muttam".. I am ecstatic when I sing

" Thrikkarappa Padikkalum Vaayo
Njanitta Pookalam Kaanan Vaayo
Mukkutti malar Choodi Muttathum Vaayo
Ponnona Villinte thudi kottan Vaayo"