Most of us rarely consider our true purpose in life. Is there a supreme reason for our existence? Can we have a fulfilling destiny regardless of our current situation? Can we be certain of future happiness, joy and peace? Or are we living a transient, purposeless existence? I am sure these were the questions going through the minds of a couple of my apartment friends on Sept 15th morning…
That morning, the morning of Onam, I was in a different frame of mind. I was following what Ramana Maharshi said: “When you find it difficult to pursue the Jnan Marg, the path of knowledge, that involves introspection, contemplation and self-enquiry, just detach yourself, renounce and surrender.” I was sitting with my coffee and was in a state of flow with my new blog draft. At that moment my daughter came into my room and said, “Our neighbouring uncle wants to meet you”. I met him instantly breaking my chain of thoughts. He was asking if I could join him and some other gentlemen to make the athapookalam (floral rangoli for Onam) in our building lobby! We were the laggards compared to the other blocks. My instant reaction was a loud No inside. Besides the fact that I was deep in surrender, I had come back after a business trip fatigued plus I was in no mood to go down. How could I leave that cherished solitary soul space in my room?
My wife always tells me “you are good at delegation” and that is what I followed next. My younger daughter knew that was coming and she immediately dressed and she was there with the “youthful souls” in 15 minutes. For the next 1 hour, she was not to be seen. I was curious. Thereafter she showed up and asked us to look at the team’s artwork. We looked from the 5th floor and the top-down view was nice we congratulated her for the effort along with the other young and restless team members. Their floral decoration found a place immediately in the WhatsApp group of our apartment. That is when I noticed the “Josh” that existed among the residents of different blocks to impress Maveli (Mahabali) who would come to earth on that day.
According to mythology, the celestial God, Vaman, came in the garb of a dwarf and sought three paces of land from Mahabali. When the generous King agreed, Vaman grew giant in size, measured the whole universe in two steps and asked for space for the third step. In all humility, Mahabali sat on the ground and requested for the third step to be placed on his head. It was not an act of God seizing power from a noble king. It was an act of blessing him and liberating him. He was given the boon of visiting his people in the month of Chingam (as per the Malayalam calendar); the visit is celebrated as Onam. Onam marks the grand reception which the people of Kerala accord to the spirit of the king who ruled the land and brought prosperity to them. They celebrate Onam as a grand event to show Mahabali that Kerala remains as happy and prosperous as when he ruled it.
Onam heralds the arrival of King Mahabali who once ruled over the land. Though King Mahabali belonged to the Asuras, he was exceptionally noble, benevolent and a good administrator too. He loved his people and treated them equally.
Young and old alike, dressed in their best, define happiness during onam by singing, dancing and feasting. I had in the morning played some of the old Onam melodies and tried to get myself into the mood but I was not feeling the Onam fervour this time. So I told my wife that we would go out as she had already prepared some food which was to be served on the plantain leaves.
Onam is also a harvest festival because this is when a rich yield of paddy, cashew, coconut and bananas is obtained after laborious work. The prosperity and abundance that Onam symbolises is more evident during the feast, which constitutes one of the important parts of Onam celebrations. Payasam, the southern version of sweet kheer, is one of the main ingredients in the feast. I wanted to have that sweet kheer with Boli ( Made from a dough of refined flour, jaggery, and ghee, Boli is flattened into thin, circular shapes and then roasted or fried to perfection). Its sweet and slightly tangy taste, coupled with its soft yet slightly chewy texture, makes it a beloved treat across Kerala. We went to a nearby locality around our place where we had a plethora of options for eateries which offer options from all over India. Let me call it “Flavours of India”. We went to at least a few shops to check out Boli but the shops had run out of stock. Finally, we ended up getting a Mangalore-type Holige which was closest to the Kerala-style Boli.
Back home, after our routine tea from Sindhoora, we were ready to eat our modest sadhya. It was picture time as we had spread all the dishes on the plantain leaf. I was curious and asked my daughter if she knew the order in which the dishes were served. My wife corrected me that Avial is served somewhere in the middle as against my view that it was towards the rightmost corner of the leaf. It was time for us to take the pic and we decided not to share as we were not well dressed for an onam occasion. We chose to show our new table instead.
Onam marks the grand reception which the people of Kerala accord to the spirit of the king who ruled the land and brought prosperity to them. They celebrate Onam as a grand event to show Mahabali that Kerala remains as happy and prosperous as when he ruled it. That is what I am sure made many apartment souls also rise to the occasion. Onam is not only a festival of joy, but a moment to realize the goodness around us. I realised it when I had the below epic combo (Boli and Payasam) and that is when I got the Onam mojo.
