Monday 15 September 2008

Onam 2008

I still remember our first Onam as it was just two weeks after I landed here in the UK. We were in the starting stages of settling down in a new place, so knew no one, had no utensils, nothing at all to celebrate with the gusto that we do back in Kerala. I was also feeling a bit sad as it was our first Onam after marriage and here we two are, far away from our parents, friends, relatives in contrast to the event itself which involves family get-togethers, giving gifts mainly clothes called Onakkodi and lots of merrymaking.
After the fist disappointing Onam I decided to make this one a grand one! This year Thiruvonam fell on a Friday so we decided to have our sadya on Saturday as we both had to goto work on Friday. I started deciding on the items for Sadya a week before and finalised on...
Thoran
Pulisseri (prepared from buttermilk)
Sambar (extremely popular recipe from South India)
Chicken Curry (as we were celebrating on the third day we could eat non-veg too :) )
Pickles
Pappads
Upperi (prepared from various things like raw bananas (kaaya))
Payasam (extremely delicious dish and is a sort of pudding
and Fruits.


But Sadya was not over yet! We also attended a Sadya on Sunday organised by the KCWA (Kerala Cultural and Welfare Association) and could enjoy all the stuff that I could not accomodate due to my hectic schedule. :)
After the sadya there was classical and cinematic dance talent show followed by Biju Narayanan's mind blowing ganamela.

He sang the song Kalabham tharam beautifully...from the recently released Vadakkumnathan, the last movie for which Raveendran Master scored music.
Now I can proudly say 'Yeah, Onam 2008 was grand.' ;-)