With white Mavelis, dragon boat vallamkali and late night sadyas, Malayalis are rocking Onam abroad!

From early in the morning, about 5000 spectators had gathered to watch the snake boat race, which featured 22 Kuttanaadan teams of rowers.
They arrived in style, in multi-coloured attire, some with a thorthu tied over their foreheads, holding their power paddles. As the rowers stepped into the boats and started paddling, a 36-member shinkari melam team, amped up the excitement in the air with their beats.After a tough fight, Karichal Chundan won the ever-rolling trophy, Thayankari Chundan the second place while Ramankari Chundan rowed into the third place.
If you thought this was a scene from a recent race in Alappuzha, you are wrong; the teams, the crowd and the entire ‘Punnamada feel’ were re-created continents away, in the reservoir called Draycote Water in Rugby of Warwickshire, UK! The race was part of the Onam celebration of the Malayali community of the country, and probably the first outside Kerala to feature chundan vallams. Property developer Noby Jose, who led the winning team, says, “We transformed a few dragon boats that are generally used for competitions into snake boats, by building the amaram and aniyam in chundan vallam style. They were named after the villages of Kuttanad and some of the participants were even singing vanchipattu songs as they inched forward. We were thrilled to see the huge turnout.”
There were two women’s teams at the event and even the trophy was designed in Alappuzha by the Kerala Lalithakala Akademy award winner Ajayan V Kaattungal.
Noby and team are now gearing up to fly to the US for an international vadamvali matsaram. “It will be held in Chicago on September 4 and will have Malayali teams from many countries, like Kuwait, Canada, Qatar and more,” says a thrilled Noby. Indeed, non-resident Keralites’ (NRK) Onams can be a lot more fun and quirky than how it is celebrated in Kerala. We find out how they manage to keep alive the spirit of Onam in their own different ways.
Maveli, puli and pookkalams, NRK style!
Ask the current generation in Kerala what Vaazhayil Kayattam or Onapottan is and not many would have an answer. But ask Malayalis in the African country Tanzania and they would invite you for a demonstration at their Onam celebration, on September 3. Rajesh Kanjirakadan, who works as a technical manager in a company there, says, “They are Onam games of Northern Kerala and they feature in our Onam games list. This time, we will also have pulikali. Our African friends are also joining us for it.”
The 450-odd Malayalis in the country are all set to celebrate Onam on the weekend before the festival and are busy shopping now.
Sibu Nair, who works in the University of Buffalo, New York, says that in one of the previous years, the community had Mavelis with a difference. “We have had Americans dressed up as Maveli quite a few times. Not just the audience, the one who played the Maveli also enjoyed it quite a bit. The only difference was that he didn’t have a paunch like his Kerala counterparts.” In Finland, the ‘Maveli act’ has a Santa influence, says IT professional Vimi Puthenveettil, who has been living there for the past 15 years. “Here, Maveli goes around the neighbourhood giving presents to kids,” she says.
An NRK pookkalam too might look different from the Kerala ones. UK-based lawyer Manoj Siva says, “My 11-year-old son Siddharth loves making pookkalam. We use whatever we get — lillies, roses, bluebells and hotlips — for it.” In Qatar, though, where Onam usually coincides with summer, they have to give flowers a miss for pookkalam. Management professional Prince Tom Dominic says, “We mostly use thengapeera, sawdust and colour powders for the pookkalams here. At times Indian stores do sell a few of our flowers but they would be extremely costly. So, powder pookkalam it is!”
How about a midnight Onasadya?
At a time when the Onasadya is a nuclear family affair in Kerala, it’s the NRKs who prepare it in its true spirit — bringing families and friends together. In Finland, for example, the 150-strong Malayali community cook the dishes together and also bring the curries they make at home for the group Onam celebration. Vimi says, “There are only three or four Kerala grocery shops here and they bring in our veggies every Wednesday, post which there is a rush to grab the best. We don’t get all the Kerala vegetables here and so we compensate with the local ones. For instance, the Finnish vegetable lantu is used instead of yam in avial.”
In the US, Sibu Nair says, they rent out an entire temple for sadya preparation and celebrations. “All the families come together and the experts among us take over the chopping of vegetables, the previous night itself. The next day, we cook for everyone and celebrate Onam. Last year, we even managed to source actual banana leaves,” he says.
And while Onasadya is served only for lunch in Kerala, the NRKs of Qatar are game to relishing it even at midnight! Prince says, “The Onam celebrations here last for about two to three months and in the past, I have attended celebrations even in November. This is because various associations schedule them on weekends and the homesick Malayalis won’t want to miss any of these. After all the games and meetings, it would be late by the time food gets served. I have had sadya even at 12 midnight!”