From reel to real
“Onam celebrations were always about family get-together in our ancestral home in Karunagappally. However, like everyone, this time the celebrations will be confined to our flat in Kochi,” says actor Anu Mohan. Though missing celebrating Onam with his entire family, he is gearing up to celebrate the Thiruvonam day with his wife Maheswari, son Jjayyden, and mother Sobha Mohan.
“We all are very excited that Jjayyden is going to have his first Onasadya. He was just six months old during last Onam,” adds Anu. He says the celebration would’ve been in a film set if the Covid-19 pandemic wasn’t there. “The Onam in a film set is a different experience. What I miss is a cricket competition with my cousins after Onasadya. We compete in different teams for an ever-rolling trophy and finally end up in ‘onathallu’. Indoor activities with my son will be the Onam games this time, whereas my mother and wife will be in charge of the Onasadya. Also, some of the movies are being released on OTT platforms. Waiting to watch those,” says Anu.
Onam will not be a charming one this year
Jose Chacko Periappuram, cardiothoracic surgeon
With the Covid scare and resulting curbs dampening the festive spirit, this year’s celebrations will be subdued. Hence, Onam in 2020 will not be a charming one, says Jose Chacko Periappuram, cardiothoracic surgeon. “Usually Onam is full of colours, flowers and ‘onasadya’, but this year we have limited the celebrations due to the pandemic. My family and I used to visit our parents every Onam, but since we are healthcare professionals and deal with patients often, we have cancelled family visits. My wife’s parents are elderly; why should we create trouble unnecessarily?” he said .
Periappuram will be on call to deal with any emergency situation at the hospital, if one arises. Even at the hospital, the cardiology department used to have its own celebrations, with students and doctors organising festivities. “Everyone used to turn out in traditional attire and all these provided a real experience of Onam. Amid the uncertainty caused by Covid -- no one knows when this will end -- we can only hope for the best. Let this Onam be filled with hope for everyone,” said Periappuram.
A low-key Onam this time
K Satchidanandan, poet
Most of my Onams were with the residents of the society where I live in Delhi. So, the celebrations happened as per everyone’s convenience. This time, I am in Kochi with my elder daughter and family. So, of course, there will be some celebrations. It will not be the elaborate ones that we Malayalis are used to. There will be no pookalams and even sadya won’t be an elaborate affair. It will be an Onam that I will be spending with just my daughter, her husband and kids. With pandemic sending everyone indoors and also the deaths, celebrations have lost their sheen. It is very depressing. Also, the uncertainty that this pandemic has brought along with it casts a thick blanket of gloom.
Calm at home
Sithara Krishnakumar, singer
For singer Sithara Krishnakumar, the Onam season was packed with live shows and performances for years. Though Sithara badly misses live shows this year, she’s excited that the debut video song of her seven-year-old daughter Saawan Rithu is releasing this Onam.
“That’s what makes Onam special for me. It is a song that she sang during her kindergarten days and won a prize,” says Sithara. The lyrics are by her husband Dr Sajish.
“It was Gopi Sunder who initiated the idea of composing it and he shot it too,” adds Sithara. There are also reasons for her fans to rejoice as four Onam songs sung by her will be released. Her Thiruvonam celebrations start from her residence in Kozhikode and then will move to Sajish’s house in Kannur. “Maybe it is after a long time that I’m celebrating Thiruvonam at home. I miss doing live stage performances. However, I felt more relaxed after attending many Onam programmes for channels and some virtual concerts,” adds Sithara.
Celebrating Onam for all artists in Kerala
Stephen Devassy, musician
The coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent restrictions have enabled musician Stephen Devassy to spend more time with wife Jasna and son Shaun in Mumbai than ever before. The keyboard player has a bunch of live musical events in hand through virtual platforms and live video-streaming apps. But this Onam is special for him for another reason.
The artist fraternity forum in Kerala he is part of collected a sum of H20 lakh and distributed free Onam kits to 2,750 artists struggling for livelihoods. “I am celebrating Onam not only for me but for all the artists and musicians in Kerala. Unlike previous years, I had several programmes and live events during Onam. But I am able to spend more time with my family,” Stephen said.
No big plans for CM, Opposition Leader
This Onam will be just another busy day for both Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala. While the CPM strongman will have a traditional Malabar style Onasadya at Cliff House, the senior Congress leader will partake of the feast with his mother. For the CM, it would be another routine day with no special programmes or Onam celebrations planned. Neither would he go home to Pinarayi, his native place. “Like anyone else from Malabar, there would only be an Onasadya prepared in the usual Malabar style,” said sources close to him. The CM hasn’t had huge Onam celebrations in the previous years either.
But this Onam is bound to be a special occasion for the family, as it would be the first Onam after his daughter Veena’s marriage to DYFI leader Mohammed Riyas a couple of months ago. As for the Opposition leader, Chennithala plans to take time out from his busy political schedule and visit the house of his sister Uma at Eanchakkal. He would spend time with his mother who is recuperating after a surgery. Since all his family members are currently in the state capital, it is going to be family time for him. He will also inaugurate a protest fast being organised to raise various issues plaguing the agricultural sector.
Time for introspection
Rajashree Warrier, danseuse
For danseuse Rajashree Warrier, this Onam is one of those rare occasions that she gets to spend at her home at Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram. While she is excited, the absence of her daughter who is away from home takes some of the glow away. “Usually, when it’s Onam we will have three or four programmes scheduled. We have the sadya in a rush and get prepared to perform. This time, I am with my parents and husband here.
It will be complete only with our daughter here but under the circumstance it’s not possible,” said Rajashree. “Performance is a long process. Often, we do it all in the rush of our tight schedules but now I have all the time I need to prepare. But the long stretch of time gives an opportunity for introspection. There are many artists struggling during this period and we are trying to help them. But it’s never enough. We have to stand together and move forward,” she added.
Music a balm for the soul
Martin John C and his Oorali band will appear on their Facebook page on Sunday night for a special Onam performance. They will make sure the costumes and the stage reflect the festive mood. Despite the gloominess, they want to cheer people up. “During Onam, rain has made way for pleasant weather. Perhaps, nature wants to show there is hope,” says Martin. Since lockdown, the band has been engaging with people via social media.” We are trying a reinterpretation of Sahodaran Ayyappan’s ‘Maveli nadu vaneedum kalam,” says musician Saji K. “A lot of people are unable to celebrate Onam this time with their loved ones and are spending their days in isolation,” he said.
The quintessential Ponnani girl is heading home
T V Anupama, director, Women and Child Development
Come Onam, T V Anupama will be at her ancestral home at Panambad, Ponnani in Malappuram. “My 88-year-old grandmother and mother live there. While my mother used to visit me in Thiruvananthapuram often, I used to call on my grandmother once in two months. But in Covid’s wake, I haven’t been to Ponnani since February,” says Anupama. According to her, buying flowers from outside to lay the floral carpet is a comparatively recent development. “I grew up in a village where pookkalams are laid using locally available flowers.
On Thiruvonam day, partaking of the Onasadya in my grandmother’s company has been the practice for several years now,” she said. Anupama, her husband Clintson Paul and their four-year-old son Ayaan had reached Paul’s house at Angamaly on Friday. “On Uthradam day, we will leave for Ponnani. On Monday afternoon, a visit to my mother’s house in Palakkad has been planned. One thing I will dearly miss this year is the absence of my Bengaluru-based younger sister, who was unable to come down due to Covid protocol,” signed off Anupama.
All are equal now
C V Balakrishnan, writer
The great pandemic has hit the world with its own sense of justice and nobody has been spared from its wrath -- not even the mighty Americans, dominant Chinese and the arrogant West, said renowned writer C V Balakrishnan.
“Now, we can sing the song ‘Manushar ellarum onnu pole’ without any pretensions. So, this Onam is all about equality. We are all equal before the wrath of the virus. Usually, Onam brings happiness and nostalgia to one’s mind, but if you look around, there is nothing much to rejoice this time.” The world has seen several pandemics before and some of them had also paved way for great literature like Albert Camus’ novel ‘The Plague’. “Though this Onam will remain as one of the most colourless phases of our era, I am confident that this too will pass and we will emerge more powerful and confident,” said CV.
Enjoying festivals to fullest is my decision
C S Chandrika, author
The first time in recent years when people decided to forego Onam was after the 2018 flood. Even in 2019, the flood and the landslides that claimed many lives hurt me very much and I didn’t feel like celebrating Onam. That year too, we didn’t celebrate Onam at our home. However, this year when I asked myself whether we won’t be celebrating Onam yet again, I found myself coming up with a different answer.
This year, let’s have a really good celebration right at home. What we need to do is overcome the calamities and tragedies. Being bogged down by grief is not an answer for we don’t know what will happen the very next minute. So, we should make the most of every minute that we have on earth and celebrate all the festivals that come our way. This is my decision from now.
Commercialisation has taken over Onam
Rajan Gurukkal, vice-chairman, Kerala State Higher Education Council
Onam takes me back to my childhood. The memories are filled with the fragrance of fresh clothes and flowers, and the taste of the feast. The season makes me nostalgic. I remember my first festival allowance and the special advance that boosted my purchasing power. Onam in my contemporary consciousness is exasperating.
Everything has been commercialised and it has become a celebration of an extravagant lifestyle. The festival today is totally bereft of both social and ecological concerns. And now pandemic restrictions of masking and physical distancing have made the social distancing of self-seeking individuals even more concrete.
Facing the new normal stoically
N S Madhavan, writer
Onam had expanded beyond the frontiers of Kerala a long time ago, to wherever there was more than one Malayali. In a long string of happy memories, this year will leave a void. The virus has practically killed Onam in small and minuscule communities outside Kerala. I have decided not to fall into the nostalgia trap. Instead, will face stoically the new normal thrown up by the virus. My earworm song for this Onam is ‘Hum Honge Kamyab’. So this year too I will partake of Onasadya with two payasams -- one white and the other black. Not much bonhomie or huddling: remember social distancing!
I M Vijayan, footballer
For him, missing out on ‘pulikali’ and not visiting friends and relatives for ‘Onasadya’ is painful. But the former India captain knows that one has to adapt to the situation just like on a football field. “For people in Thrissur, pulikali is a huge part of Onam celebrations and not having that will be unusual. My family complains during Onam that I’m not at home, as I go around the houses of friends and relatives. This Onam, they are happy that I’ll be at home. But all of us have a responsibility to follow the Covid protocol,” said Vijayan.
K N Ananthapadmanabhan, cricketer One of Kerala’s most celebrated cricketers, he feels Covid has made society introspect. Maybe we’ve all been taking things for granted. The virus has shown us that the things which we felt were always going to be there may not be there. We are realising that now, as there will be no celebrations. Hopefully, next year, we can celebrate it with full vigour. But right now, the priority is the safety of everyone. I didn’t even go out for Onam purchase this time,” he said.
T N Prathapan, Thrissur MP
Onam has always been celebration time for a mass leader like T N Prathapan, MP. But not this time. The MP and his family decided to skip Onam festivities as several people are struggling to survive in the wake of the Covid crisis. “Only twice in my life did our family cancel Onam festivities. That was when our parents died. Every year, we used to lay pookkalam and keep Thrikkakara appan. This year we didn’t even get new clothes,” he said, adding, he will spend the Onam days by extending help using the small amount provided as MP’s salary, though the Centre slashed it.
Contributions by: Anil S, Amiya Meethal, Unnikrishnan S, M A Rajeev Kumar, Anu Kuruvilla, Krishnachand K, Anuja Susan Varghese, Gopika Varrier, Martin Joseph, Gautham S and Gopika I S