Of Pagan Musings & A Feast Gone Wrong....

" Rekz, isn't Onam on the 12th? What are you planning to do?"

" Nothing"

" Nothing at all???"
" Na"

Hailing from a true blue Brahmin family, tradition and strict adherence to age-old customs had been an integral part of young Dsk's daily life. Festivals, of course, used to be noisy, colourful and replete with elaborate rituals. So, it is no small wonder that he now has difficulty reconciling to my brand of Paganism, a throwback to a childhood characterised by very little religious customs.
" Why are you not doing anything for Onam? Is it because it is a working day...""But there isn't much to do....."
" Not much to do???....But how can that be?......Isn't it Kerala's biggest festivals?...How do people normally celebrate it?"
" Well, its more of a family and friends show rather than an individual act...A little like Thanksgiving, I guess...Normally, every house in Kerala will create a Pookalam [floral carpet] right in front of the house - sometimes for the prescribed 10 days, but often for the last 3 days. The flowers for these pookalams would be collected by children the evening before. Other than that, we wear new clothes, eat scrumptious lunches and loll about the house doing nothing much other than gossip or nap"

For a few moments, I was lost in time...I was reminded of the excitement and laughter of an incredibly fun Onam I had celebrated as a little kid. It was a rare occasion when all my cousins had been in town. Every evening, we would set out as a noisy band to scavenge the neighbourhood for flowers and colourful leaves....Some we begged for, some we stole shamelessly and the rest, we picked from vacant lots and the roadside..... And when the sun sank into the horizon, bathing us in its golden glow, we would scurry back home with our precious booty and set about designing the next morning's pookalams... An exercise which almost never reached fruition because we, especially the younger ones, would be exhausted and all too willing to retire to our beds without much urging from our parents.

The voices from my past rang in my ears...My grandmother warning us against dirtying or ripping our new clothes....my mother and aunts calling to one another as they bustled about their chores...our giggles as we cousins amused ourselves with games of make-believe....the chattering of trusted servants and vendors as they received their 'kodi' [new clothes]...the laughter of the menfolk who would play cards or talk politics till lunch was served.... That was an Onam to remember!!!

" That's it???....I guess it will be no fun for you if you are to spend the day in the kitchen cooking...Why don't you do the flower carpet thingy and then we can go out for a traditional Sadhya [feast] at night.."