Onam special: A nostalgic trip down memory lane

Actress Asha Sharath with her husband T.V Sharath and daughter Uthara and Keerthana at their residence in Al Twar in Dubai on Monday 12, September 2016. Photo by Juidin Bernarrd

"Although I celebrate most of the festivals, Onam is very special to me," said Asha Sharath, popular malayalam actress based in Dubai. "I spend it with my family and friends and my team at Kairali Kalakendram." 
Asha, a classic dancer, owns Kairali Kalakendram, a dance and entertainment centre dedicated to teaching dance, music, singing, drawing and painting to students of all ages). "We do our small pookkalam with flowers which gives a very positive feel to welcome Mahabali, the benevolent ruler who comes to visit his subjects ... thus goes the history of Onam," says Asha. 
My daughters, Uthara and Keerthana, along with my husband Sharath and I prepare the ona pookkalam, the flower decoration in our home. I have my close friends circle of four families and my cousins whom we invite for the onasadhya." Asha serves the sadhya the traditional way on the banana leaf with a variety of vegatables and two types of paaysam. "It is a full festival atmosphere of fun," says Asha. 
Born in Perumbavoor, Kerala, Asha is the daughter of renowned classical dancer Kalamandalam Sumathy. Trained by her mother in Bharathanatyam, Mohiniattam and Kuchipudi, Asha has bagged the top prize at an all-India dance fete in Varanasi, India, in 1992.
The Malayalam tele-serial Kumkumapoovu brought her fame after which she moved to take up roles in movies. 
Her role as a police officer in the film Drishyam was well received and became her first commercial hit. She did the same role as an IPS officer in the Tamil remake, Papanasam, and in its Kannada remake. Asha also received rave reviews for her movies King Liar, Varsham, and the latest one, Anuragha Karikkin Vellam.
"I get nostalgic when I think of Onam. It was fun, waking up to a fresh feeling of festivity," said Asha. " We would set out early in the morning in search of Onam flowers like thumbapoo and mukkuti poo for the pookkalam at home. 
"We would also visit the neighbours with sweets. The best part of it all was the onakodi, or the new dress which we would be gifted that day. It used to be the skirt and blouse when I was younger, and then as I grew up I would get the mundu and veshti or the kasavu saree."