Onam celebrations subdued as Malayalees donate to revive Kerala

Several Malayalees in Chennai continue to be worried about family members coping with the losses back home, while others are busy volunteering and doing their bit to contribute to relief activities in any way possible.

Jewellery designer Minnie Menon said that she won’t even be having her annual Onam special sadhya this year. “It doesn’t feel like the Onam season at all. My family and I have been sending money and clothes to verified sources. We are only hoping for the crisis to end soon.”

College students who used to get together to throw Onam parties every year, have decided to call it off and donate the money to the Kerala Chief Minister’s fund instead. “We usually hire a space in the city, and invite all our Malayali friends as well as others who want to celebrate with us, and it’s great fun playing Malayalam film songs,” said Jose Chacko, an IT engineer in the city. “Last year, we had a ‘Jimmiki Kammal’ marathon! It didn’t, however, feel right to organise all that this year. We are going to wear our traditional mundus and conduct a modest pooja, that’s about it,” he added.

Similarly, Veenita Gupta, who also attends Onam events ever year, decided to observe a prayer for those who perished in the floods, and wore a kasavu saree as a small tribute to the festival. “We usually celebrate the festival grandly as it means a lot to the community. But this time, we kept it low-key. People say that we should light at least one lamp as a mark of respect, and we will do that. I have also been working for the relief work in the state through Rotary,” said the homemaker who also partakes in several social events and activities. 

Fashion choreographer Ajit Menon was looking forward to the occasion, as his star birthday (that is celebrated traditionally in Kerala) this year falls just one day before Onam, “But in light of recent events, I asked my family to cancel plans, and to not make even payasam,” he said. “We saw houses being damaged during the Chennai floods but, the Kerala floods completely destroyed homes and livelihood. So this year, we want to focus on rebuilding the state,” added Menon.