Skip to main content

Happy Onam




There has been no human society which did not have some myths and rituals.  Myths and rituals are a kind of psychological defence mechanisms.  Onam, Kerala’s most celebrated festival, revolves round the myth of a primitive king, Mahabali (more affectionately called ‘Maveli’), during whose reign there was no evil in the kingdom.  A kingdom without evil is a fascinating myth.  The associated rituals are meant to bring people closer to one another and to the environment.  Onam stresses on social functions and art performances as well as floral decorations. 

But the traditional ways of celebrating the festival have been replaced with modern ways dominated by new rituals.  The high priests of the new rituals are traders of different shades, ranging from the unavoidable supermarket to the redundant jeweller, from the film industry to the television channels. 

Onam is no more about equality and fraternity, goodness and generosity.  It is about shopping and entertainment. 

While there is nothing wrong about shopping or entertainment, there is much harm in redefining certain rituals.  The original rituals of Onam reinforced relationships among people as well as between people and nature.  Children went around gathering flowers from wherever flowers could be plucked.  In the process they merged into the nature.  They also met and spoke to the owners of the lands from where they collected the flowers.  The adults came together to participate in or to be spectators of the various events and performances related to the festival.  Flowers are now bought from the market and that too not for making the traditional floral carpet for Maveli but for participating in a floral carpet competition with substantial prizes.  Entertainments are brought home by the TV channels; or at best the family makes it to the nearest mall where people ineluctably remain strangers.  

What remains is the nostalgia conjured up by the traditional songs and dances telecast on the channels.  The nostalgia gives us a longing for the good old days.  But we know they won’t return.  We don’t want them to return, really.  It is impossible to give up our gadgets and luxury.  It is impossible to be generous to the needy neighbour.  It is impossible to be good. 

So we shall be content with the old myth of Onam and its new rituals.  Happy Onam!


Labels:

Comments

  1. AmitAagSeptember 6, 2014 at 12:34 PM

    Happy Onam, Tom!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 6, 2014 at 4:50 PM

      Thank you, Amit. I do celebrate it in a meaningful way.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 6, 2014 at 2:42 PM

    My Wishes

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 6, 2014 at 4:06 PM

    Happy Onam! So true , The very meaning of festivals and rituals have changed. But I believe some changes in means of celebrating does no harm as long as the essence of festivals remains intact.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 6, 2014 at 4:51 PM

      But the essence is changing, friend. Of course, change is a natural law and I'm not questioning it. If only people could understand the deep meaning of the festivals they would be far more useful in living more happily and fully.

      Delete
  4. MeenalSonalSeptember 6, 2014 at 6:56 PM

    Though a rituals of festivals change, important is celebration :). Happy Onam.

    ReplyDelete
  5. EJSeptember 6, 2014 at 7:08 PM

    Happy Onam. Yea..everything has changed, but still malayalees of all religions try to make something out of it. It is true that there is no joint family kind of atmosphere, but many families do get together, bring food items separately and make a potluck onam. even that is also happiness for them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. IndraniSeptember 6, 2014 at 7:54 PM

    Happy Onam to you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousSeptember 6, 2014 at 8:06 PM

    Happy Onam :)
    There's only that nostalgia left for me too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 7, 2014 at 10:03 AM

      Nostalgia is important. It can keep you rooted. Happy Onam to you too.

      Delete
  8. UnknownSeptember 6, 2014 at 8:48 PM

    Happy Onam to you… Thought provoking post!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fascinating QuestSeptember 7, 2014 at 1:48 AM

    Another admirable post... Happy Onam to you :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. RajeshSeptember 7, 2014 at 1:01 PM

    Wish you Happy Onam

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nima DasSeptember 7, 2014 at 3:14 PM

    Happy Onam wishes to you and your family. Yes it irritates me too bollywood songs blaring during religious functions. We mostly do what is done in television now rather then what is traditionally done.The essence of rituals bore people these days and are being replaced by technology and its gimmicks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 8, 2014 at 9:29 AM

      Thank you, Nima. As we move ahead it is going to be worse, I guess.

      Delete
  12. RemyaSeptember 8, 2014 at 2:21 PM

    happy Onam!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 9, 2014 at 12:15 PM

      Wish you too a very happy Onam, Remya. I'm sure the celebrations are still on in Kerala.

      Delete
  13. LsSeptember 10, 2014 at 12:30 PM

    Happy Onam Tomichan! Agree Onam is nothing like what it was. I celebrated my first Kerala Onam about 16 years ago. It was the most boring and lonely one. Compared to that, the Onam's celebrated in Mumbai has always been more like what it should be. The whole family and extended families getting together to prepare the Onamsadya. Even this year, it was a family event. So, guess, the people in Kerala should work hard to preserve the tradition.

    ReplyDelete
  14. UnknownAugust 13, 2015 at 6:57 AM

    It's so nice to read post about the local festivals. My friend is a malayalee and she often tell me stories about how they celebrate Onam festival. My Onam wishes to all of you this coming holiday this year. Cheers to all!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ivan the unusual friend

When you are down and out, you will find that people are of two types. One is the kind that will walk away from you because now you are no good. They will pretend that you don’t exist. They don’t see you even if you happen to land right in front of them. The other is the sort that will have much fun at your expense. They will crack jokes about you even to you or preach at you or pray over you. This latter people are usually pretty happy that you are broke. You make them feel more comfortable with themselves even to the point of self-righteousness. Ivan was an exception. When I slipped on the path of life and started a free fall that would last many years before I hit the bottom without a thud but with enormous anguish, Ivan stood by me for some reason of his own. He didn’t display any affection which probably he didn’t have. He didn’t display any dislike either. There was no question of preaching or praying. No jokes either. Ivan was my colleague for a brief period at St Joseph’s
14 comments
Read more

Joe the tenacious friend

AI-generated illustration You outgrow certain friendships because life changes you in ways that nobody, including you, had expected. Joe is one such friend of mine who was very dear to me once. That friendship cannot be sustained anymore because I am no more the person whom Joe knew and loved to amble along with. And Joe seems incapable of understanding the fact that people can change substantially. Joe and I were supposed to meet one of these days after a gap of more than two decades. I scuttled the meeting rather heartlessly. Just because Joe’s last messages carried words that smacked of intimacy. My life has gone through so much devastating fire that the delicate warmth of intimacy has become repulsive. Joe was a good friend of mine while we were in Shillong. He was a post-graduate student and a part-time schoolteacher when I met him first. I was a fulltime schoolteacher teaching math and science to ninth and tenth graders. My dream was to postgraduate in English literature an
11 comments
Read more

Kailasnath the Paradox

AI-generated illustration It wasn’t easy to discern whether he was a friend or merely an amused onlooker. He was my colleague at the college, though from another department. When my life had entered a slippery slope because of certain unresolved psychological problems, he didn’t choose to shun me as most others did. However, when he did condescend to join me in the college canteen sipping tea and smoking a cigarette, I wasn’t ever sure whether he was befriending me or mocking me. Kailasnath was a bundle of paradoxes. He appeared to be an alpha male, so self-assured and lord of all that he surveyed. Yet if you cared to observe deeply, you would find too many chinks in his armour. Beneath all those domineering words and gestures lay ample signs of frailty. The tall, elegantly slim and precisely erect stature would draw anyone’s attention quickly. Kailasnath was always attractively dressed though never unduly stylish. Everything about him exuded an air of chic confidence. But the wa
9 comments
Read more

Machiavelli the Reverend

Let us go today , you and I, through certain miasmic streets. Nothing will be quite clear along our way because this journey is through some delusions and illusions. You will meet people wearing holy robes and talking about morality and virtues. Some of them will claim to be god’s men and some will make taller claims. Some of them are just amorphous. Invisible. But omnipotent. You can feel their power around you. On you. Oppressing you. Stifling you. Reverend Machiavelli is one such oppressive power. You will meet Franz Kafka somewhere along the way. Joseph K’s ghost will pass by. Remember Joseph K who was arrested one fine morning for a crime that nobody knew anything about? Neither Joseph nor the men who arrest him know why Joseph K is arrested. The power that keeps Joseph K under arrest is invisible. He cannot get answers to his valid questions from the visible agents of that power. He cannot explain himself to that power. Finally, he is taken to a quarry outside the town wher
11 comments
Read more

Levin the good shepherd

AI-generated image The lost sheep and its redeemer form a pet motif in Christianity. Jesus portrayed himself as a good shepherd many times. He said that the good shepherd will leave his 99 sheep in order to bring the lost sheep back to the fold. When he finds the lost sheep, the shepherd is happier about that one sheep than about the 99, Jesus claimed. He was speaking metaphorically. The lost sheep is the sinner in Jesus’ parable. Sin is a departure from the ‘right’ way. Angels raise a toast in heaven whenever a sinner returns to the ‘right’ path [Luke 15:10]. A lot of Catholic priests I know carry some sort of a Redeemer complex in their souls. They love the sinner so much that they cannot rest until they make the angels of God run for their cups of joy. I have also been fortunate to have one such priest-friend whom I shall call Levin in this post. He has befriended me right from the year 1976 when I was a blundering adolescent and he was just one year older than me. He possesse
8 comments
Read more