This article is a part of the #OnamWithTNM Series, presented to you by Duroflex Mattress. Check out the Duro Safe Mattress Protector with Swiss HeiQ Viroblock technology, India's first antiviral mattress protector.
Thiruvonam, Kerala’s most celebrated festival, is drawing closer even as the southern state is hitting a high number of COVID-19 cases every day. With Kerala’s Health Minister predicting that the positive cases will go up more in September, there is silence on the streets and gloom in the air. Businesses such as flower sales and handloom textiles which thrive during the festival season, have taken a beating due to fewer sales and smaller crowds. And across the state, families remain confined to their homes as the pandemic makes it impossible to travel or gather in large groups to celebrate.
In spite of this long list of challenges, some Malayalis across Kerala and abroad are determined to make Onam 2020 count, even if it is to temporarily distract themselves. TNM spoke to Malayali men and women across the world who shared tips and tricks on how they intend to make Onam 2020 special, despite all personal and collective setbacks.
“Before my marriage, Onam celebrations used to be a grand event at my maternal home. My mother would insist that we dress up nicely on all four days of Onam. On the day of Thiruvonam, my cousins would come to my place and we would have sadya together,” Niranjana Nair, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, tells TNM.
Post marriage, she had moved to Chennai and the practice of celebrating Onam with cousins in Kerala stopped. “We would just video call and wish each other,” she says.
This year, the COVID-19 pandemic made Niranjana go back home to Thiruvananthapuram with her young daughter Vedika. “Although we are going through a very bad time, something positive to think about is that, after many years my sisters, cousins and I are getting to meet each other and celebrate Onam. And I am glad that I can show my daughter how we used to celebrate Onam in our school days,” she says. Coincidentally, her husband’s birthday too falls on Thiruvonam day this year.
“I am planning to celebrate his birthday with an Onam theme. A pookalam, kasavu sari and a cake with a pookalam design,” she adds.
For Thrissur resident Sujatha Harinarayan, Onam has always been about spending time with her daughter Lakshmi, who moved to Belgium years ago and son-in-law Aneesh, who works in Cambridge, UK. The couple would fly in to visit their respective parents and in-laws every year during the festival season. But this year, the family is scattered, making Thiruvonam a quiet occasion for everybody.
But Sujatha (59) is determined to have a good time during Onam, despite not being able to spend time with Lakshmi. “The spirit of Onam is about seeing light and joy. It’s about looking at the cup as half full. And that attitude only depends on how we look at things. So daughter, or no daughter, I plan on cooking a good sadya, and sharing snacks and payasam with my neighbours,” she tells TNM.
Living in an apartment complex has its benefits as there is a sense of community and shared bonding among residents. Moreover good food really enhances this sense of community, Sujatha says.
Image courtesy: Picxy.com/Santhoshiv
“While everybody has been at home, nobody has forgotten the taste of a good sadya – the unreal feeling of wiping clean your ela or plantain leaf and pouring hot payasam on to it to polish it off is typically experienced during weddings or festivals. So some of us who cook well in the apartment decided that we should have all of that, this Onam. We have now planned to split the dishes and make them in bigger quantities, and then share it with our other neighbours,” she says.
While smaller groups of 2-3 families can ideally get together, Sujatha says that depending on the COVID-19 cases, the apartment will take a call on meeting in smaller groups or parcelling the food to all residents.
Meanwhile, back in the UK, her son-in-law Aneesh too plans to make Thiruvonam a special occasion. A senior scientist at IONTAS in the University of Cambridge, Aneesh is neck-deep in work and unable to join his wife in Belgium due to the pandemic. But Onam equals good food, good conversations and the memory of home. "Who would want to skip that?" he asks
“I usually invite my non-Malayali and non-Indian friends for Onam and make a nice sambar, erissery, thoran and payasam. I also buy banana chips from the local Indian store to serve with the sadya. Celebrating festivals here also means that it is a sort of cultural exchange among friends. My European and Brit friends have been curious about Onam. Why do we eat on a green leaf, why do we have so many dishes etc. So it is fun to get them to participate in the festival,” Aneesh says. This year too, he plans to invite his friends home for a last minute sadya.
“As a joke, I say that Onam is about Onam Sadya and Onam Thallu (a brawl). The thallu usually starts with a discussion on politics and then all is well after a good meal,” he says with a chuckle.
Ernakulam resident Sajna Safeed says that Onam, for her family, has been low-key celebrations mostly revolving around food. “Among our community, we don’t generally dress up in white or celebrate with pookalams. But we do ensure that we have the sadya and it is eaten from the plantain leaf,” Sajna says. A home cook from Kochi, Sajna explains that there are certain places in Ernakulam which are renowned for their Onam food. It is from here that her family has been parcelling dishes for many decades.
“There is Vinayaka Foods which is known for their paalada pradhaman and the pazham payasam. My husband is crazy about payasam and every year during Onam, we get the payasam from there parcelled. While usually places serve paalada or ghee or jaggery payasam, Vinayaka has a special dark banana payasam which is out of this world. It adds to our festive joy,” Sajna adds.
With the coronavirus cases rising this year, Sajna and her family are hesitant to step out and get food parcelled. Hence, the home cook intends to whip up a sadya and make the payasam at home.
“I can make a full fledged sadya. For the smaller curries, we make inji thayir (ginger curd) and the manga curry (mango pickle). Then there is the usual sambar, olan, rasam, aviyal, thoran, erissery and other items with rice. To top it off is the payasam. My older daughter can’t make it home for Onam this time. So we will celebrate it with my husband’s brothers and their wives and my younger child,” she adds.
Thiruvananthapuram based Sushil Nair and his family too have cause for celebration. Their daughter got married on Monday (August 24), and the family plans to celebrate Onam with the newlyweds.
“We faced a lot of challenges with the wedding. It was supposed to be a regular wedding with over 3,000 guests, but the pandemic upturned all our plans. Finally, it shrunk to a 50 person wedding. It was mostly the family, and it just became a very intimate affair. Over the last few days, I can feel the bond between all of us tighten, as Ammu got married,” Abhishek Nair, the bride’s brother, tells TNM. The family now plans to get the newly married couple and their parents home for an elaborate Onam sadya, complete with Onam Paatu (songs), pookalam (rangoli) and loads of festive cheer.