I am not a fan of festivals. No, let me rephrase that! I am not a fan of the festivals when I have to all the work! There , I said it. Nothing new. Laziness is something that people in my life have accepted me with. A golden trait that hasn’t changed much since I was a young thing. An advantage of being the youngest of three sisters is that I rarely have to make any Sadhya on my own. I generally go to their homes and enjoy the feast. And if mom is around to cook the Sadhya in a way only she can, there is nothing to match the festivities of an authentic Onam or Vishu.
I try, I really do, most of the times when the sisters are out of town, to make an honest attempt at copying my mom’s recipes. This time because of the aches and pains, I had opted out of doing all the cooking and even Pookalam (Floral Carpet) was just a “may be I will” possibility up until around 7pm on the eve of Onam 2012.
Kalyan Silks has an outlet here in Dubai too. We went to buy the Onakodi from there for a change. On an impulse, I made the decision to make the Sadhya too. Off we went to Lulu Hypermarket do the Onam Shopping. Everything is made easily available to recreate the feeling of Onam in this foreign land. It has been so for many years now. The restaurants deliver Sadhya home too. One never misses much, except the extended families (or families in some cases).
The cooking process is a tedious one. We get fresh grated coconut in packets here, so a major job is already dealt with. Then there is the vegetable cutting job that takes up a lot of time. This time it was just the four of us, so the quantity required was very less and hence this wasn’t a mammoth task either. But it is time consuming. I made the Pulinjhi (Recipe coming soon on my Recipe blog) too at home for the first time. I generally buy the pickles from the shop otherwise. I also attempted to make Paalada (Recipe coming soon on my Recipe blog) all by myself this time.
All in all , a small family version of the Sadhya was on the table by 2 pm Dubai Time. Believe it or not, it was almost like my mom’s Sadhya. Even if I do say so myself. Naah…. my second sister’s sadhya and my elder sister’s maid’s Sadhya is nowhere even close to my mom’s sadhya in taste. Yeah, I know I am a mean soul. But since no one is there to celebrate my success, I am doing it myself. Anything wrong in it??? Tell me tell me? No, don’t shake your heads in disgust. Please… 
Anyways, this Onam ended up being a good one after all. I was kind of depressed the day before Onam. But we managed to pull it off. The kids helped with the pookalam and the Paayasams and the hubby helped with the dishes. So I guess it was a combined effort . Onam is all about celebrating as a family. And that we accomplished. How can one ask for more than that? No one knows what tomorrow will bring about. Today is all we have. Right?
