Its festive season
in Kerala… and the cover page of a magazine which the women folk in my house
reads captures it well!
In July 2015, I was
directed to teach in the PG department of Govt.
College of Teacher Education, Thiruvananthapuram. And the advantage… I could
join my family in preparations for Onam.
This year the Onam
celebration in the college was special in every way.. For the first time
in its 103 year history, two regular batches each of BEd and MEd is studying in the
college at the same time owing to the government decision to commence a two
year BEd and MEd course from 2015
onwards.
Its customary to
celebrate Onam in the college prior to the ten-day Onam vacation. Speakers during
the function this year, recalled
“…a time of prosperity…days in
which people were treated as equals… when there was joy everywhere….”
BUT... “times are changing… Onam these
days in Kerala has reduced itself to adorning of new dress… the traditional
Kerala saree by women and dhoti and
jubba by men…”
Incidentally unlike
in previous years the date of celebration of Onam in the college did not slip my mind, and so I
arrived in college, donning
the Kerala attire for the celebration
held on Tuesday, 18 August 2015 in the auditorium shared by the Govt. Model Boys
HSS and our college. In fact one of the speakers, did notice this and even appreciated my gesture of donning the Kerala dress,
particularly because all the other
male teachers of the college had worn the usual pants and shirt. I was naturally beginning to feel elated when
the speaker continued… “These days during Onam, flaunting
the traditional attire, gulping down the
Onam meal, polishing off the banana leaf on which the meal is served and
not forgetting to emanate a gust of air in satisfaction, one usually struts
home, oblivious of the fact that millions in India, go hungry without a square
meal even on Thiruvonam day!”…The speaker even exhorted that
something needs to be done for the marginalized
sections!
For a couple of minutes, the
cheerful mood in the auditorium appeared to disappear…but when the
cultural programmes commenced…things were back to normal.But by then… I had lost my appetite and sat cringing on the front row.
The programme over, I was
leaving the auditorium when a new portrait caught my attention. It was that of Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam with the
words… “On 28.06.2012, Dr.Kalam spoke in
this auditorium”
Soon I was beckoned
to the corridor where the traditional Onam meal was served…
and as I tread slowly, I was reminded of
the video recording of an extract of
the speech made by Dr.Kalam in the European Parliament, played during
the college assembly when the nation
mourned the death of that great soul…
Here is the text…and I think its a
befitting message for Onam too…
…As we say in India…
Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the
character
When there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home
When there is harmony in the home, there is an order in the nation
When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world…
It’s a speech worth listening to…Please view:
