KUWAIT: Cutting across religious and caste affinities, Keralite expatriates in Kuwait celebrated Onam, Kerala's harvest festival, in traditional fervor and enthusiasm yesterday. This year, the celebration got a new fillip as 'Thiruvonam', the most important day of the festival, fell on a Friday, giving an opportunity for people to celebrate it in a better way.

Despite being away from Kerala, Malayalis in Kuwait vied to create the mood of a festival at their homes. In traditional Onam dhotis, saris and skirts, men, women and children got together to celebrate Onam that commemorates the golden era of mythical king Mahabali.

Several Malayali families laid out 'pookkalam'-floral decoration in their apartments-a tradition during the festival and prepared sumptuous lunches - Onasadya. But some utilized the 'Onam takeaway services' being offered by many south Indian restaurants in Abbassiya, Fahaheel and Salmiya areas. The restaurants came up with attractive packaged 'Onasadya' for people who wanted to celebrate the festival in a cozy ambiance of their apartments. The price for a 'sadya' varied from KD 2 to KD3.

No, we haven't prepared the Onasadya this year. We had ordered it with a restaurant here. Twenty four items come in a packet. So why should we take the trouble to cook at home," exclaimed Ashwathy, a housewife in Abbassiya. According to her this spares them a lot of time which could be better utilized for festivities and family visits.

Today, packaged sadya has made things easy for us. But, no doubt it has taken the charm out of the whole celebration. We used to enjoy the warmth of a family atmosphere where all the members get together to cut vegetables, cook rice and prepare special dishes including 'payasam' to make the Onasadya. As children, we used to play many Onam games also. Onam used to be a good occasion for family reunions," said Aravinda Menon recalling his Onam memories in Kerala.

Though Thiruvonam, the tenth day of Onam, was celebrated yesterday for many Malayali social groups and associations in Kuwait, the Onam celebrations will go on until November end, because the get-togethers can take place only during weekends which will turn out to be occasions for cultural shows and traditional folk presentations. - kuwaittimes