POV: Celebrating Onam as a Mumbai Malayalee with Joel Joseph and Sharanya Nambiar

This is a letter to every fellow Mallu who grew up away from Kerala, for whom celebrating Onam has its own meaning!

Thiruonam is one day away and I’m too excited for it. Celebrating it as an adult is different from when I was young, but the emotions attached to it are the same. As opposed to the rest of the year, Onam is the one day I get to embrace my Malayalee roots and show them off with pride. I look forward to dressing up in my traditional outfits and soaking in the joy of the season. Onam is a big deal in Kerala, unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to experience it in person. Growing up as a Mumbai Malayalee, my connection to Kerala was shaped by stories from my parents and our yearly visits. These visits were always about my parents wanting to stay connected with their relatives. But it was never a tradition to visit them during festivals like Onam. 

It's the same for creator Sharanya Nambiar who has also always celebrated Onam in Mumbai. She said, "Living in Mumbai, onam genuinely feels very different mostly because you don’t really have a lot of family around. I might’ve spent Onam in Kerala only once in my whole life but that might’ve been the best Onam ever because everything just felt right. However, over the past few years i think the fact that even my non malayali friends want to be involved and celebrate it with us has made the celebrations a lot better. They make Mumbai feel like home for Onam."

Hearing my friends talk about this and watching movies about what Kerala was like during Onam always made me wonder how it would feel. The thought of waking up early to pick flowers for the pookalam, every day from Atham to Thiruonam, seems like something I could totally be into. Watching the Onam parade with pullikali, thiruvathira, the boat race, and the Onam games is equally thrilling. Seeing all those posts on social media definitely adds to the buzz. But honestly, I never felt like I was missing out, thanks to my parents, who made sure we always had the best time. For me, Onam has always been about the simple joys: Sadhya, dressing up, temple visits, and that glorious post-Sadhya nap— like a classic Mumbai Malayalee. 

Turns out content creator, Joel Joseph also shares this experience with me. Growing up in Nagpur, Onam wasn’t a huge thing for him either, except for the excitement around the sadhya. “My mum used to make it, but I was not a big fan because nathille choru onnum yennikya isham allarinnu (I never liked Kerala rice)” he admits. He talked about never having had the chance of celebrating it with his family or extended family in Kerala. The only way for him to have something close was through his prayer groups as a Malayalee Christian. "Here we have prayer groups, we go to church and every group has so many families. Every family will make sure to cook small dishes and we come together to have one big sadhya. That's how it was in Nagpur. But when I initially came to Mumbai, there was nobody there who I knew. So, we used to go to these "Mallu places" to have a feast with several friends and that was an experience I cherish."

But two years of studying in Kerala changed it for him. “As I grew up, the Malayalee in me also grew, which is also why I make the videos I make. So Onam has definitely changed for me, and I plan on celebrating it will pomp.” It also became about his community, especially after seeing everyone wearing mundu, clicking pictures, and having sadhya together. “In my hostel, there were 53 people in my batch, so we were like a close-knit family— which made those celebrations extra special.”  That’s honestly one of the things I get most excited about too. I want my friends to join in and witness the rare moment where I actually try to eat every single vegetarian dish piled up on the ela. As I dig in like a beast, I want to share that whole experience with them.

And I guess, what I am trying to say is that Onam is and will always be about community, celebrating my culture and food. Because let’s be real—good food is what always brings us together. 

Appo, Allavarukkum Onamashamsakal!