Onam, the annual cultural festival which originates from the state of Kerala, is clearly not being celebrated this year the way it is supposed to be and we all know why. It’s because of the severe flooding in the state which has left more than 300 people dead and had more than 2 lakh people displaced. The state needs more than 21,000 crore rupees for recovery and the whole nation is doing their bit to raise that amount.
Several restaurants in major cities like Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi held Onam feasts or ‘sadya’ as it is called in Malayalam to raise money for the state.
One such restaurant in Mumbai, ‘Curry Tales’, served the special Onam feast and pledged the money they make from this to be added to the Kerala Chief Minister’s relief fund.
On a lighter note, the Onam feast is this delicious thali that I was introduced to today. Originally it is supposed to have more than 20 items served in a banana leaf and I think my plate too had a good 15-20 items in it.
I can’t name even one of the dish properly and though I thought this delicious sweet thing was ‘kheer’ but turns out it was called something else altogether (I made a fool of myself). I remember bhindi, kheer, papad, drumsticks, jaggery, bananas, banana chips.
Overall it was a great initiative and a wonderful personal experience for me as this was the first time I ate the famous ‘sadya’ and I wasn’t the only one who showed up to eat for the first time, there were quite a few people who shared the same experience as I did.
Producer: Bilal Jaleel
Camera: Bilal Jaleel
Editor: Veeru Mohan Krishan
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