6 friends from 6 emirates come together for Onam

Supplied photos

Onam is a festival of togetherness and the Kerala festival got six friends from six different emirates together for a sumptuous Onam sadya.
At a time when festival wishes are getting confined to phone calls and social media messages, these friends travelled a long way to celebrate the festival together.
Manikandan M. (Dubai), Krilosh Panicker (Sharjah), Shanavas Shareef (Ras Al Khaimah), Manoj C.V. (Ajman), Akarsh S. (Abu Dhabi) and Sajeev Suseelan (Fujairah) were the six some. Also, Prajeesh Kumar joined his friends from Al Ain. The gathering would have represented all seven emirates had Praveen C. from Umm Al Quwain joined the gang.
What made the bonding special was the fact that the celebration was held at Manikandan's Dubai flat in Al Warqaa 1 and he is not a Malayalee, but hails from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.
"Onam is such a festival that transcends barriers like language, caste or religion. I have more Malayalee friends than from my state," Manikandan said.
Panicker chipped in: "This is a celebration of our roots."
The afternoon spread was as lavish as it gets with 14 items in the menu. "It was all under the supervision of 'head chef' Sajeev," Manoj said.
Vegetable curries like avial, kaalan, thooran, pachadi, khichadi, koottu curry, rasam, parippu, sambhar, pickles, mambazha pulissery and others were made and served on banana leaves. It was rounded up with ada pradhaman payasam.
"This is one day I really miss being with my family," Sajeev said. "But they are my family here," he added, referring to his gang.
The festive day ended with an Onam song and Onathallu (friendly bashing).
The six-some are
Akarsh S. (Abu Dhabi)
Manikandan M. (Dubai)
Krilosh Panicker (Sharjah)
Manoj C.V. (Ajman)
Shanavas Shareef (Ras Al Khaimah)
Sajeev Suseelan (Fujairah)
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com