Ammini kutty, the youngest granddaughter of Saraswathi and also her favourite, was busy going through the entire collection of new clothes her dad and mom had bought for her, and her brother and sister for Onam. She had come for a Onam vacation to her family home in Kollam, Kerala. Onam, at home was always special.
Instead of her usual dresses, shorts and jeans, these were cream coloured, almost the colour of ivory and handmade in the neighbourhood loom, said her grandmother. To add to the subtle design, the golden kasavu strip stood out as a border to her skirt and her blouse, gleaming in the glow of the evening sunshine.
Saraswathi could almost visualise the morning of Onam when Ammini kutty would awake early, have her ritual bath along with her siblings and rush to get into her ‘new’ clothes (skirt and blouse) for Onam. Then came the prayers in the puja muri, lit up to the glow of the Nilavilakku with cotton strands floating with their ends dipped in coconut oil to keep the flame lit.
After the puja, Ammini was ready, brimming with excitement of festivities of the Onam Day. There was the floral pookalams, the thiruvathira dance, the gifts from all the uncles, aunties and cousins and finally everyone would sit down to the traditional ONAM SADHYA or the lunch served onto fresh banana leaves freshly cut off and washed.
Every one of the 26 odd dishes were cooked in the home kitchen by her mother, grandmother and other aunts assisted by the cousins. It was quality family time.
She remembered her teacher distinctly saying “A family that eats together, stays together!”.
