In Kerala they say during Onam, ‘Even if you have to sell your most valuable things, you have to relish Onam feast’ (Kaanam vittum Onam unnanam’). This time another saying would come to their aid, ‘Enjoy Onam with what you have’ (Ullathu kondu Onam pole). Onam 2020 will be like no other in recent memories.

Malayalis rush home to Kerala from all corners of the world if they can to celebrate the harvest festival of Onam. This year, Onam for Malayalis across the world would be a much subdued affair. Gone is the rush to the bazaars on Uthradom day to stock up for the feast during Onam days. With social distancing the norm, and COVID-19 playing truant, Malaylis can’t come together to revive the old memories at their ancestral home this year. Some have planned an Onam online. Even as the government claim that the death rate and infection rate is way below the average, this unusual times call for vigil and caution.

Even Kerala Tourism has taken the grand celebrations online. Its 10-day festival started on August 22 and will draw to a close on September 2. The Tourism Department’s ‘Onam Fest Kerala’ features a bouquet of heritage arts and celebratory rituals alongside new-age cultural programmes—all of it online. Of the events beamed so far, the Panchari Melam ensemble alone earned as many as one million eyeballs.

Grand feasts, enthralling boat races, traditional art forms and a pookalam in each courtyard, #Onam is #Kerala at her prettiest. #HappyOnam pic.twitter.com/3QrH2LPDJi

— Kerala Tourism (@KeralaTourism) September 4, 2017

On the day of Thiruonam (August 31) is a Kathakali show, followed by a live band performance and an Onam theme film the subsequent days. On August 29 was Family Onam Celebrations and Job Kurian’s music show (is on Sunday). All programmes are at 7 pm.

The ‘Sadya’ banquet was up on social media on the afternoon of August 27, with a row of people in ethnic Kerala dress sitting cross-legged on floor-mats and eating with the hand an array of dishes for the rice served on banana leaves. The classical value of different types of curries, fried vegetables, rounded pappadams, pickles, chutneys and two courses of payasam desserts came to the fore with the anchor explaining (in English) the order and manner of serving each dish, besides a brief on their ingredients and recipe.

A message Kerala Tourism’s Facebook page says is quite relevant during this testing times. ‘This Onam, let us relive the good times when Mahabali ruled the land and people lived in peace and harmony’.

For the past three years, various natural disasters have struck this small piece of land on the southern tip of India. Legend has it that Lord Parashuram threw his axe and the seawater receded to reveal the land that is Kerala. The past three years have seen the verdant land struck repeatedly by floods throwing normal life out of gear. As if the waters are claiming back what is rightfully theirs.

Each time when it overcomes misfortunes and tragedy and gets into a celebratory mood, misfortune strikes the land and the people again. It is in the midst of this that Keralites are celebrating Onam 2020. Donning new traditional clothes (shirt and dhothi for all men and traditional Saree for women) and relishing the Onam feast is de rigueur for the Malayali anywhere in the world. Be it in Kerala, anywhere in India, in the Arab world or the western nations, the Malayali has to don their traditional dress and sitting down on a mat on the floor, they eat from a plantain leaf, considered the most traditional way of celebrating the festival.

While the preparations for the feast start a day earlier, the food itself is cooked and laid out by afternoon in most houses in Kerala. And any guest who walks in on the day of Onam is considered as Mahabali, the Asura king who is believed to have ruled this beautiful land, and is offered a full meal in all houses. Such incidents have been recounted by old timers.

The ten-day long floral carpet or the athapookalam is another ritual that was an integral part of Onam celebrations for children and there were often competitions held by various organisations for the best floral carpets. This is another custom that has been observed in a subdued manner this time round.

Even though Kerala’s Onam celebrations have sort of transformed into a communal affair with successive governments spending huge amounts to hold various programmes for over three decades now, Onam 2020 would be the most subdued one in recent memory. Onam celebrations had also transformed into more of a tourist attraction with lots of foreigners making a beeline for God’s Own Country come August-September. The elephant pageantry and the various cultural programmes organised across the State were huge attractions for tourists both Indian and foreign. This year all such celebrations have been cancelled and few tourists were seen in the cities of Kerala.

A shocking change from the past is in the Malayalam cinema industry. COVID-19 had stopped the movie industry on its tracks and departing from tradition no Onam releases have been announced, that too during a season when cinemas of Malayali heartthrobs Mammooty and Mohanlal become huge grossers. OTT releases have been planned but crowds at the cinema halls will be missed and the huge earnings from this industry that feed thousands won’t materialise pushing many into hardship.

Like they say, changes are inevitable and all these new precautions, hygiene standards, and health protocols would hopefully pave way for a new society that is more caring and mindful of others in the community. We will hopefully enjoy a more vibrant Onam next year that harks back to the past glory of this wonderful land.

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RADHIKA RAJAGOPAL 

“Life begins the day you start a garden” says an ancient Oriental proverb. It certainly proved true in our case, bringing not only the promised “joie de vivre” but also serenity and harmony, an inner peace and tranquility to our life post retirement. We believed that we’d left our “gardening” days behind when we bid adieu to life in army cantonments with their ancient bungalows set amidst sprawling grounds and settled into a modest flat in a typical urban high rise. The lush green lawns, butterflies flitting among the colourful flowerbeds, waking up to the mellifluous notes of song birds in the fruit trees… all these were packed away in the dim recesses of the mind, to be revisited only in leisurely moments of self indulgence, during nostalgic trips down memory lane.

Once the initial chaos of moving into the new flat was over, life settled into humdrum routine – too humdrum and boring a routine! Why not try something new… a vertical garden in the limited space offered by the open balcony of our twenty first floor flat? With my husband, to think is to act. .. hectic weeks of consultations with both professional and amateur gardening enthusiasts followed; agonised poring over estimates and cost analyses; endless rounds of discussions on what type of a vertical garden – all green , or shall we make bold to include some flowering shrubs or at least some colourful foliage; innumerable visits to nurseries and garden centres to pick out the plants; ever so many plans to be drawn up and decisions to be hotly debated… the next few weeks passed in a whirl of activity. With the help of friends, we finally homed in on a green- thumbed handy man- cum-gardener who deciphered our muddled and often contradictory demands and instructions. In a reasonably short time our Vertical Garden was fully set up… and what a pleasure it was to behold! Adorning one full side wall of the balcony, one could catch sight of it through both the kitchen window and the dining room window – making us pause midstride at random moments throughout the day, enjoying the luxury of communing with nature, even so “high up in the sky”.

Now came the hard work of maintaining this vertical garden, watering, trimming, and so on. Like newbie parents with their first born, we too anxiously watched over our garden. And like first time parents, we too made mistakes galore. Although both of us had enjoyed the lovely gardens in our previous houses, we had no ‘hands on’ experience. But now we had to buckle down to it ourselves. One main job was to regularly water the plants. Our “gardener” had explicitly told us to water them twice a day -morning and evening – and we followed instructions meticulously. Imagine our chagrin when the plants, which had been flourishing initially, started drooping listlessly. By the third week, most of them were dying, if not already dead! Frantic SOSs were despatched to Debu, our gardener; he deigned to come, though it was much before his next visit was due. One look at the drooping plants and he instantly diagnosed –“overwatering”! The twice-a-day watering was only to be done the first week! After that it was to be just once a day or even less frequently depending on weather. And in our enthusiasm, we were literally drowning the poor plants! Talk of having too much of a good thing!

As you might have guessed we went to the other extreme after this and had the plants wilting from thirst… we were so chary of watering! Finally, Debu exasperatedly told us to “feel” the soil to decide how much and how frequently to water the garden.

But as one wise woman put it,” in gardening there are no mistakes, only experiments”. And so we continued “experimenting”… soon our plants were flourishing and our garden was a “thing of beauty” giving us immense joy! One glimpse of the vertical garden, with its variegated foliage ruffled by each passing breeze and the tender fronds of the flowering shrubs dancing in gay abandon along with the gusting winds… and the heart is instantly lifted up – all cares are forgotten, the mood brightens and the spirit is cheered.

There has been an unexpected bonus too. Because we made the vertical garden so tall (it extends the full height of the wall) it has fostered “togetherness” and brought us closer in our sunset years. The height of the garden means that both of us have to work in tandem for best results, especially while watering the plants. Even with a stool, I can’t reach the top two or three rows. So it definitely needs my husband on the stool and me down below to fill up and pass him the mugs of water. No, filled-up watering cans will not do, because it becomes too heavy to be lifted up above the height of the top row. A medium sized mug of water is the best option. And it has brought us together – these bi or tri weekly sessions of working attuned to each other’s rhythm, with the musical tinkling of the trickling water to provide a soothing background. It fosters calmness, and deep philosophical musings!

I find myself ruminating on the life-lessons this activity provides. As Browning said, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp,/Else what’s a heaven for?” One should indeed reach for the stars – in this case, a very tall vertical garden. To keep it green, we both have to work together. The one standing below has to keep up a steady supply of the filled mugs of water for the partner on top to do his job swiftly and efficiently.

Here too, as in life, each partner can forge ahead only with the support of the other. When both are fully attuned to one another, both marriage and garden flourish! Much like a successful marriage, the vertical garden too needs careful nurturing. The top rows have to be regularly brought down for a bit of “tender, loving care”. …, checking for aphids or other pests, soil top-up or change, trimming of too exuberant a growth, in short a thorough check-up, before being returned to their lofty perch.

As you can see, in this one ‘wall’ there is plenty to keep us pleasurably busy. It also provides an emotional roller coaster… the triumphant joy of seeing a newly planted seedling take root and put forth new shoots; the agony of seeing a beautiful plant dug up by marauding pigeons, its shredded bits strewn all over the balcony; the cathartic release of chasing away those pesky birds as they try to perch on the railings; the creative stimulation of the inventive mind devising schemes to dissuade nesting birds from roosting on the balcony…. What more can one ask for? Truly, a garden, whether vertical or horizontal, big or small, is a cornucopia of Nature’s bounty… it “adds years to your life and life to your years “.

Radhika Rajagopal is a proud army wife. She is a post graduate in English Literature who gave up her job as an officer in a nationalised bank to follow her husband across the length and breadth of India.

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If you are wondering if this was a joke, no. It is actually a silicon statue of the lady. The life-like statue appears to be so real. The husband of the lady and his daughters wanted her to be present during the ceremony. So they got a silicon statue of the lady made the celebrations, to feel her presence during the ceremony. It appears as if she was actually sitting there in the sofa and greeting everyone.

Srinivas Gupta, a businessman surprised everyone when he installed a silicone wax statue of his late wife at his newly-constructed home on the occasion of housewarming ceremony, in her memory.

In 2017, Madhavi, his wife, was travelling to Tirupati with their two daughters when she met with a fatal car accident. Though her daughters sustained minor injuries, Madhavi did not survive. While she was alive, it was Madhavi’s dream to own a bungalow, and hence Srinivas decided to construct a house in her memory two years back.

When the dream house was completed, Gupta wanted to make sure that his wife is present with him at one of the most significant moments in his life.
It is a great feeling to have my wife again at my home, as this was her dream home. An artist Shreedhar Murthy from Bengaluru took a year to prepare my wife’s statue. Silicon was used for the statue for durability,” said Shrinivas Gupta on installing silicon statue of his deceased wife.
“Our artist suggested me to have silicon statue instead of the wax statue as we live in Koppal which is a hot place. So according to his suggestion, we got the silicon statue prepared,” Gupta said.

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In the time of social distancing, virtual get-togethers have made life bearable or even fun for many of us. The weather is too unsavoury to have a small private party in the park; moreover, no one trusts or welcomes food or gifts from others. With restrictions in place for social gatherings at home and malls and restaurant party halls not everybody’s idea of fun in COVID times, parents of tiny tots in the UAE leave no stone unturned in the virtual wilderness looking for partying ideas.

Online forums throw up plenty of options. From a simple e-card – which we have been doing since the time Internet became a household companion – to a video card with a compilation of wishes from friends to a group workout, the choices are good enough to tide over lockdown blues. One can host a virtual watch party using a Netflix Party extension in Chrome, which will help all attendees watch the same movie at the same time with the same pauses/breaks and even discuss the scenes in the chat room. Then there are virtual tours provided by museums and zoos. Abu Dhabi’s Louvre and Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque have been providing the service for some time now. In Dubai, the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood, Dubai Mall’s Underwater Aquarium and Zoo, Etihad Museum and the opulent interiors of the seven-star Burj al Arab are all available at our fingertips. Stay safe by staying at home, but by all means have some fun as virtually as possible, exhorts Dubai Tourism.

Celebrations in isolation don’t mean that we will attend the party in our pyjamas and night suits. Themed parties with costumes to match can be exciting and fun, so is sending a cake delivered home to the birthday boy/girl.

The teens at home, however, will have none of this for their birthdays. Adventure rides and a movie date might be out of the question now, but they would rather spend time with friends in a mall food court or coffee shop away from the prying eyes of parents. The 50-degree heat doesn’t deter them from meeting outdoors either – D3 and Kite Beach are awesome hangout points when like minds meet.

In the UAE, COVID-19 has given us free access to many VoIP calling services helping us discover the immense possibilities in the virtual sphere. Zoom’s 40-minute free call has come in handy for tuitions, office meetings, summer camps, yoga sessions and so on. Long-lost friends from school and college are meeting on the zoom grid unmindful of the initial security concerns and jingoistic boycott of Chinese apps. As an aside, did anyone notice that the country that gave us the novel coronavirus is also giving us masks, gloves, vaccine assistance and the most popular social media apps?

It is party time for all, albeit virtually in 2020. This is nothing new for a friend who has been away in Malta on work for some years now while her immediate family is scattered in Dubai and Germany. Much before COVID, they have been having supper together over Skype and later, Botim. Birthday cakes were cut and shared over the virtual space. That’s what we call “have your cake and eat it too” in the new brave world.

The post Living on the virtual edge appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

In early July, Numbeo, the crowd-sourced global database on cities and countries, listed in its mid-year statistics three UAE cities in the first 10 safest cities in the world – Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai feature at 1st, 5th and 7th position respectively. Abu Dhabi has a low crime rate index of 11.36 and the highest safety index of 88.67 while Dubai scored a crime rate index of 16.98 and a safety index of 83.02.

In 2019 too, Abu Dhabi (ranked 1) and Dubai (6) scored top marks on the safety index with 89.3 points and 83.34 points respectively. Gulf cities like Oman’s Muscat (28), Bahrain’s Manama (32), Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and Jeddah (64 and 103) also figured in the safe cities club. It is not just Numbeo; surveys by numerous other sites give these cities top ranking in the safety index.

Numbeo records that worries about being insulted or physically attacked because of your skin colour, ethnic colour, gender or religion is very low in UAE cities; worries about housebreaks and theft or the scourge of corruption and bribery that is ingrained in many other countries is practically nil here.

There is very little to fear in Gulf countries like the UAE thanks to the strict enforcement of laws and fast-track punishments. Many ordeals women dread or endure in the Indian subcontinent are non-existent here – eve-teasing, ogling and other forms of sexual harassment. One can walk around comfortably in as crowded an indoor exhibition as GITEX without fear of groping or jostling.

Back home in my village, women do not step out after 6 p.m. Twilight and later is not ideal time for women to venture out, except on festival nights escorted by the male members of the family. Growing up in India and Tanzania, and studying and working in Delhi and Chennai, I feel the South Indian metropolis is one of the relatively safer Indian cities for women but the ground rules are to avoid dark lonely spots or stretches and reach home by 10 p.m. unless chauffeured in a company car. But the UAE has been the most remarkable of my residences giving me unrestrained freedom of movement and a sense of security. I am not alone; that is the opinion of the average expat woman residing here.
For Sindhu, an Indian expat homemaker in Dubai for the past 23 years, the UAE is home like no other. The comforts of living here prompt her to rush back to her UAE home after visiting her elderly parents annually or whenever they need her proximity. As the mother of a college-going young woman, she feels it is a country that is very safe to bring up the girl child. The country appreciates and takes care of its entire expat workforce, with women and children in particular shielded by its safety net. A woman can take the metro or bus any time in the night without fear. She feels the punishment that awaits criminals is very apt and quick here, which makes people wary of committing crimes. A woman can stay alone safely without experiencing any discomforts. Hats off to the country’s COVID-19 fight too and its containment strategies, she signs off.
Yasmin, who has been working in Dubai for over two decades, feels extremely safe to stay in the UAE as a woman and as a mother. Women’s empowerment is achieved in real terms here, she affirms. She can go out any time and the signboards in every street ensure that she doesn’t get lost while driving; even if she gets stuck anywhere or parks her car on the roadside at night, the police immediately appears and enquires if everything is okay or if she needs any assistance. She can send out her boys alone without fear as helpline numbers and surveillance cameras in public transport and other public spaces induce a feeling of safety. In schools, children are givens lessons on how to protect themselves from all kinds of abuse while school buses are fitted with cameras to track students’ movement (some ensure proper ferrying through Radio Frequency ID cards that track them inside the bus and in school). There might be occasional cases of negligence by staff but the rate is very low, she notes. Call up the police on 999 in a medical emergency, and the ambulance is at your doorstep in 2 minutes to take the patient to hospital, she vouches from personal experience. The comfort, care and assurance that the UAE gives you and your family earlier and now during the pandemic is the best anyone could ask for, she declares.
Like Yasmin, I dream of an unhurried life in the Kerala countryside some day. But that day can wait. The beauty of my homeland in the lap of the Western Ghats is nonpareil but the comforts that come with living in the Gulf make up for it. Apart from being paradigms for cleanliness, hygiene and quality, countries in the Arabian Desert are oases of prosperity and cultivated greenery. They are home away from home for the Indian expat. The numerous restaurants from each Indian state, Indian stores and hypermarkets that sell Indian vegetables and goods, including time-savers like freshly ground coconut in boxes, to TV anchors and FM jockeys who chatter non-stop in Malayalam, Tamil or Hindi nip in the bud any iota of homesickness. Anyway, home was just four hours away by flight in pre-COVIDIAN times and quicker than the 12-train journey from Chennai to Kottayam.
Year-round sunshine and a tax-free economy bring expats by the hordes from all over the world, and they return after they have made enough to enjoy a quiet retired life in their picturesque homeland that always remain close to heart. East or West, the Middle East is best for those who wish for the modernity of the West combined with the culture of the East.
Borrowing from Rabindranath Tagore, let me take the liberty to describe my adopted land: “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high… /Into that heaven of freedom” has this country awakened.

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DUBAI

Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management has eased restrictions on activities across the emirate and also restrictions on entry to shopping malls for people above 60 and children under 12 starting from June 18, tweeted the Dubai Media Office. This will be subject to compliance with precautionary measures such as wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing.

Economic activities that were earlier restricted can now have 100% capacity. These include swimming pools and aquatic sports; museums, art galleries and public libraries; water parks and kids’ clubs in hotels; desert camps; home beauty services; 3D and 4D cinemas; and kids’ playground in public parks. Care facilities for the elderly and people of determination can also be open.

In other emirates’, however, the restrictions on children under 12 remain in force while adults under the age of 70 can enter malls.

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