Onam

Joyful reminders of a bygone time... a childhood memory of a wonderful Onam spent in my tharavad..

.. of fragrant flowers and pretty pookalams, of pooja for the mathevar and new pattupavadas, mothers making yummy kalan, olan & avial in the kitchen, offering to stir the warm delicious payasam simmering in the big uruli serving as a pretext of tasting it repeatedly, playing all day, poottu kali (searching for the poottu hidden by one person- an Indian version of hot & cold), onathallu, then devouring the Onasadya and everyone resting in the early afternoon in the pumukham.. one on the small wall by the window in the path of the coolest breeze, another on cheriamma’s lap who’s warm caress on your head would make you drift in and out of sleep, and the rest lay haphazardly on the floor vying for a spot on the easy chair.  The evenings brought in energy with tea & snacks and a second round of ammamma’s signature kaya varuthathu and sharkara upperi, followed by Onappaattu & Vanjippaattu started by kuttymama and everyone joining in and singing in unison by the end and an impromptu kaikottikali by the girls and ladies in the family.

While the love and enthusiasm hasn’t died down, times have changed. Today my family of over 40 people are spread over several continents and have never all been under the same roof at the same time. Technology keeps us together and we’re thankful for it. But nothing can beat the times we spent together. These bittersweet memories are as precious to me as my ammamma’s injipuli and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Such memories are all we have!

Wishing you all a very happy Onam!

..and hoping for an Onam as beautiful as this for all of us.

PS: This post includes a lot of references in the language of Malayalam because some words (and memories attached to them) are irreplaceable. The picture at the top is of Mathevar on Onam day at my home (Tharavad for us) in Palakkad, Kerala.