Onam is Kerala’s festival. It is the provincial festival of
this state. It is unique in itself that unlike the other carnivals, the
reception of the defeated is ceremoniously celebrated here. It has its divine
nomenclature ‘Tiruvonam’ in which the prefix ‘Tiru’ depicts sacrosanct. This
year also this festival has majestically paid its visit in Kerala and after
acknowledging the people’s thrust, receded to its den.
Festivities in toto carry in their wings the message of concord,
contentment and amusement. Temple-trips, new apparels, sumptuous food-items
etc. have their say in adding splendour to the fair.
Our family also travelled in the usual track of essential
rituals and reached the finishing point. But we, the elaborate family of ours
flock together to celebrate ‘Onam’ in a different way. What I want to highlight
here is our ‘Kudumbayogam’- a union of all the sub-units of the family. This
‘Kudumbayogam’ has become a magic wand which binds all the branches of the
family magnetizing the members in its spell.
It is in fact a family-summit comprising members of the core family from east and west, north and south and around the globe. This
‘Yoga’(union) is indeed the brainchild of some genuine personalities. They
mused together for a family unit and poured the ideas into the mould of a ‘Kudumbayogam’.
The venue itself stands conspicuous in
the sense that the root ‘Nalukettu’-(a quadrangular building with an open patio
in the middle) was aptly chosen. Gratitude to the present owner who honours its
century old legacy and maintains it in its own traditional fashion.
All the branches say the primary, secondary and tertiary
with their own sub-branches present themselves in a laudable style. The
congregation contains strength more than two hundred. The assemblage is not a congregation for sheer
recreation but has laid down certain objectives. It stands for the uplift of
the needy, assistance for the hapless, nursing for the ailing, concern for the
elders and the like in the family as well as outside.
The family graph exhibits not a straight line.The fiscal as well as official positions of some members fall near and some others far of the 'x' axis.But all enjoy the treatment tantamount.Some people own special flairs in some fields like cultural,academic and literary.They do get encouraged and enthused here.
This year also we had
the family fair in that graceful ‘Nalukettu’. The joviality remained ceaseless
as the members of the audience did play their rolls well. People made use of
the platform to show what they are. The hullabaloo and yelling of both the
seniors and juniors filled the precinct. The interaction among the members of
the audience enlivened the atmosphere.
The diminutives failed never to take out their arrows of
action from the quiver. They ran, they hopped, they jumped, they swung, they skipped and they even entered in petty
confrontations. From the tiny toddlers to old-old oldies were heroes in the
scene. Homemakers turned to be musicians. Rhythm encroached over the legs of elders.
They danced in the tune of folk song pop in that terrain. Taciturn people
pulled out their tongues and rolled to oratory. Athletes and sports persons were
born from the lay throng. And the games played there made the vicinity joyous
and delightful. Expletives and interjections echoed everywhere. Some verve-packed
youths with shimmering force were splashing in the adjoining atmosphere. They
were exactly on the forefront of all the activities.
Once in a while such occasions are essential to take the
weight of stress off our minds. Now a days people’s mind owns no shelf without
tension. So this kind of togetherness sets a deviation from the routine. It is
a diversion from the common route. On the whole a stream of enthusiasm and
enchantment will entangle the audience spurting the sense of oneness in
multiplicity.
Though I have thrown much light upon our Family-Unit, it can
be experimented everywhere. And excuse me, those who walk already through this
pavement.
