By Sajeev K Peter

KUWAIT: The Malayali community in Kuwait celebrated the annual festival of Onam - the harvest festival of the southern Indian state of Kerala, with plenty of enthusiasm this year, as it took place without much coronavirus-related restrictions in the country. Over the last two years, Keralites celebrated a low-key Onam as the pandemic had thrown a wrench in their festival plans. The Onam festival brings together a multitude of colors and flavors from around Kerala and the festivities reach their zenith on the auspicious day of 'Thiruvonam.'

"We are quite happy because we could come out of the shadow of the pandemic and celebrate Onam delightfully this year," said Jayaprakash Menon, a resident of Salmiya whose family prepared a traditional multi-course vegetarian feast 'Onasadya' at his apartment on the day of 'Thiruvonam', which is the most important day during the 10-day-long festival. Many people said they would celebrate Onam on Friday since 'Thiruvonam' fell on a working day. Indian restaurants in Kuwait also deliver attractive Onam package meal kits consisting of more than 20 traditional dishes on Thursday, to the convenience of families.

The festivity is not just confined to the sheer variety of food and desserts prepared and served, as the spirit of Onam is also experienced in the form of a range of cultural events, musical and dance performances being organized under the aegis of various social groups and associations in Kuwait. The Indian Embassy in Kuwait kickstarted this year's festivities by hosting an extravagant Onam event in association with Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC), Kuwait on Sept 1.

"Onam lives in the heart of every Malayali whether they live in Kerala or outside. I am happy that this feeling has been imbibed by the younger generation including our little children," Indian Ambassador Sibi George told Kuwait Times.

Thanima Kuwait, an Indian expat association, announced that it was bringing back the most popular 'tug-of-war' competition, held on the sidelines of the festival, this year after a hiatus of two years. The event is scheduled to be held Oct 28.  KALA Kuwait, one of the largest Indian associations, has scheduled several cultural and social events as well to celebrate the festival. "We don't have a centralized Onam celebration this year.

Instead, we will celebrate the festival at our unit levels in view of our membership strength," said KALA Kuwait general secretary J Saji. KALA Kuwait has currently around 10,000 active members. He expressed his happiness that the community could celebrate 'the festival of equality much better this year with traditional cultural events and sumptuous Onam meals, reflecting the legacy of Onam.