Onam - lots of rhyme and no reason
The saying is that one should celebrate the festival even if one has to sell all the wealth (Kaanam). I cannot see anything beyond a well-thought conspiracy by interested people. Let us see what is all about the Onam which contradicts our beliefs and common sense. I don’t have to repeat here the legend behind Mahabali and the incarnation of Vamana. Did Mahabali ever rule the land of Kerala which was retrieved by Parasurama who was a later incarnation of Vishnu? Assuming that it was possible, how come the people of Kerala who consider Ananthapadmanabha as the real king of the land welcome an antagonist of Vishnu who had to trick him into exile?
There is a story that Cheraman Perumal had ‘Thiruonam to commemorate the acceptance of his sovereignty by the feudals of the region. We all know what happened to him after that! The name of Mahabali’s wife was Vindhyavali . So it is safe to conclude that she was the daughter of some king of the Vindhya region.
(A la Sita being Janakaja) Since there was no inter-state movement or even access to the region, Mahabali also could have been the king of some neighbouring state. Isn’t it blasphemous that we celebrate the memory of a person who was considered fit to be banished from the earth? Didn’t we have some very honest prime ministers and chief ministers in Kerala ? Coming to that is it the conspiracy of Marxists (Ona-M) to let the working class enjoy at least five days in an year in memory of Maveli (Mao-Li!)
During this period, it is the underprivileged who are exploited the most. For, for the well-heeled every day is Onam . If Onam used to be a harvest festival, what is our current bumper harvest except scandals, corruption cases and immoral acts?
Onam, when juggled is also NAMO! ANY WAY, HAPPY Onam; for there is nothing wrong in being happy. Only thing, don’t be in a fool’s paradise.
(The author is a former Central Government officer)