Onam!

Guess what I did yesterday?
We celebrated Onam!!!
I know its too early .. there are two more days left.. but its the weekend and so much more convenient.

The great thing about Onam is that its secular. Its for ALL malayalees and not just for hindus or christians or muslims.. EVERYONE celebrates onam.. And there's such lovely fooood!!!

One of the first things that come to my mind when I think about Onam is the 'sadhya'!! thats the huge elaborate meal.. on banana leaf.. We dont have many 'leaf' meals at home. Except at weddings..And Onam and sometimes Vishu (in spite of us not being hindus we celebrate it, once in a while).
This year, we also decided to put a 'pookalam' which would be a kind of flower carpet or a flower 'kolam'. For a pookalam, there needs to be 'poo's! So I was sent out to buy some flowers. And I went grumbling, because of all e`rrands and chores, I hate 'buying stuff' the most.
Since we live in Besant Nagar and since for the past week or so, Besant Nagar and Elliot's Beach has been invaded by hordes of religious devotees of the Vellankani church, i grumbled even more.
But because of the loads of shops lining the roads, spotting a flower shop shouldnt be that difficult, I thought. It turned out that most people buy flowers only right next to the church, so I had to walk my way through the huge temporary shopping arcade to the other end. I was, unwisely, wearing jeans and t-shirt, so I hope I didnt scandalise too many aunties.. I did, however, hugely enjoy looking at all the shops on either side and admiring how prices fall at festival times.. and half wished that fab-india, which was also on the same road had also joined in and slashed their rates as well in the spirit of festivity!!!

When I finally reached the shop, the lady who was staring down at me (they erect platforms that come upto shoulder height for those shops adjoining the church - i dont know why!- the result is very disconcerting). The Lady who was staring down at me, pretty much figured out that I wasnt here to go to church, I thought, because nothing else could explain her frightful glaring. When I asked for some flowers (uthiri poo - loose flowers), she asked me what flowers. I did study Botany in school, but I really didnt know the names of the flowers, except for rose and 'mulla'(jasmine) in tamil! She was very irritated at my hesitation, so I pointed to some garlands hanging nearby and said that I wanted some loose flowers which were yellow and looked like this. She, was now very annoyed, because there was a huge line of other people behind me (who were also glaring at me), who I think she prioritised over me, because they were genuine. After I guiltily let one couple in front of me, I saw her smile at them and decided that I would not give way anymore. Finally I got her to understand what I wanted and she gave me 2 huge packetfuls of flowers (the colors all mixed up!) and I made my way back home.
Excited to start the 'pookalam' I forgot to crib about my harried experience and me and my lil sister started work. As much as I really do hate 'buying stuff', I love 'doing stuff' just as much. It was fun and I love the result.. We did two pookalams and the green leaves are from a nearby tree. Here they are.

After that I had bath and changed into my onam salwar (;) - yes I do have an 'onam' salwar) and sat down hungry for the 'sadhya' which, by the way, was the most amazing ever! Vegetarian food never tasted that good!