SFV Onam – Another Round of Applause, please

If last year’s Onam reminded you of a Bollywood big-budget multi-starrer like Sholay, this year’s was like a Hrishikesh Mukherjee film, Anand, simple, straightforward, and no less entertaining, bringing home that Small is Beautiful. Kudos to the organizers.

As a curtain raiser to the event, in the morning the SFVians were first invited to the Club House where a work of art, Pookalam. It turned out to be an artistic splendour – a magnificent floral carpet that would make Persian carpets run for their money. Thank you, the untiring team of ladies and gents for burning midnight oil to this end.

Much to the joy of the waiting audience, five young boys, in their early twenties, swung into the amphitheatre, the venue, carrying Chendai. At first we wondered if they were carrying Chendai or Chendai was carrying them - too heavy for their body. “They must be apprentices. We will encourage them, regardless,” we swore, on seeing the young boys. But alas! How mistaken we were as we heard their brief introductory drum beat. They seemed nearly well qualified to be part of the Trissur Puram Chendai contingent given the chance, as we watched their Chendamelam with open-mouthed admiration. Yes, it carried that money-back tag to elevate the mood of even those unaccustomed to the art.

This was followed by a pageant representative of Kerala culture – King Mahabali, the Kathakali dancer, the Mohini Attam dancer, the Kalari payat warriors; Vela kali, the martial dance performed during temple festivals, the two attired as tigers to represent Puli Kali, the Hindu, Muslim and Christian ladies in their respective costumes, the cute little ‘Muslim’ boys with broad green belt around waist and cap on head, ready to sing and dance with their Dandiya for the Muslim wedding in the adjacent hall.

The pageant accompanied by Chendamelam and the entire audience went around the complex as though to permit those who could not make it to the venue to peep through their apartment windows and partly compensate for their loss. At each block, Cedar, Ebony, Oak and Pine, the Chendai troupe showcased what they were capable of, much to the merriment of audience.

Back in the amphitheatre, it was time for lighting the lamp and set in motion the cultural show. My friend Col Paddy and I were given this honour along with the chief architect of this Onam show. Then began a feast for the eyes, what with young children from the multi-cultural SFV society dancing with gay abandon with no clue to the meaning of the lyrics but enjoying no less their footsteps and action and entertaining the audience simultaneously; the near-professional Tiruvathira dance by the SFVian ladies; the all-male adult Christian dance from the multicultural SFVians, attracting a ‘once more’ thunderous demand…

This was followed by tug of war, a precursor to the Onam Sadya (a three-course lunch with 20-odd items) that awaited them at the Club House.

Now the question arises: who steals the show? The lively compering of the event by the duo?  The pageant showcasing the varied culture of Kerala? The dances of the cute little boys and girls? The excellent Tiruvathira dance by the SFVian ladies? The all-male adult dance attracting a ‘once more’ thunderous demand? The impromptu tug of war? The well-organized Onam Sadya in select batches – 12 to 12.45, 12.45 to 1.30 etc. that witnessed no gatecrash whatsoever? Or, more importantly, the Onam Sadya itself?  

To be honest, naming one will be doing injustice to the other. Each had its own entity. That said I would give full marks to one event: the amount of community living par excellence feeling that this meet gave.

As we headed towards the lift my friend who enjoyed the event in full asked, “Does Onam happen only once a year?” “Sadly, yes. But luckily in SFV it happens twice; once on the due date in every household, and second, when the SFV Malayalee group hosts it, more as a community celebration. “Too bad, just twice,” he said. “Don’t worry, we have a series of festivities lined up. It’s Diwali next week, then Kannada Rajyotsava on 9 November, Ekatva in December, Christmas at the end of the year…” Life is what you make of it, isn’t it?”