Redetermining!

9/26/2013

Crap!!!! I fell off the blogging routine and just got motivated enough to post something. Everyday, I noticed things and thought I’d post about that! Never happened! So I’m putting myself to task and getting on track again.

Among these thoughts were setting general parameters on topics to post according to the day of the week. For Thursdays, I thought to share with you all something, an anecdote or a story or an experience.

I am from a little state in the southern peninsula of India called Kerala. It is coastal, the weather is amazing, the state is green and pristine and the people are always warm. It has been dubbed ‘God’s own Country’ – guess that makes me an angel 😉 (credit for this line goes to my dear friend Shweta ‘the sparrow’ Sivasankaran). One of the biggest festivals celebrated in Kerala is Onam – the annual harvest festival that usually falls in the first week of September. The story behind Onam and the reason why we celebrate it the way we do is also really interesting. Here it is:

Once upon a time, there lived a ruler called King Mahabali or Maveli as he is lovingly called. During his reign, his kingdom was prosperous and successful, everyone was equal and no one suffered from poverty or hunger. As he became the ruler of all three worlds, Indra, the king of the Devas (gods of the celestial world) became jealous and insecure and asked Lord Vishnu to help them take their kingdom back and control King Mahabali. Lord Vishnu decided to test the King and visited him as a Vamanan (a brahmin boy, fifth incarnation of Lord Vishnu). He asked the King for the land that covered three of his footsteps and Mahabali generously agreed. Vamanan  grew in size and with the first two steps, he measured the entire earth and heaven. A man true to his word, Mahabali asked Vamanan to place the next step on his head, thereby sending him to a heavenly underworld – Patalam. Even though the devas succeeded in stopping the King, Vishnu was very impressed with him and allowed him to be the ruler of Patalam. He also allowed him to visit his people once a year to make sure they are happy and well. Onam is the day King Mahabali (name literally means great sacrifice) comes to visit us.

So every year for Onam, we get together with family, play games, sing songs, enjoy a sumptuous feast, wear new clothes, clean our homes and design a pookkalam (a pattern on the floor made with flowers – see pic below). We welcome Maveli into our lives and show him that we are happy and thankful for the lives we get to live in the kingdom he ruled over with so much affection.

And every year for the past 8 years, I have missed Onam at home. My entire family gathers together and the phone is passed around to everyone till I have spoken to them all. Everyone tells me about all the fun they are having and I miss them all so very much. I sulk, I cry and make my own modest pookkalam. Aditya made it special this year by buying me flowers and taking me out to dinner :).

Happy ONAM to everyone.

With that and lots of love!