KERALA HOUSE REOPENS FOR ONAM SADYA

NAVI MUMBAI: After a year of pandemic, Kerala House in Vashi will reopen its ‘Onam Sadya’ with limitations and restrictions on Saturday.

Unlike pre-Covid days, wherein walk-in entry was also allowed, this time, only the ones who booked their slots beforehand would be allowed by maintaining all the Covid protocols. The house will also be distributing 100 food parcels, informed Rajeev Gopinath, manager of Kerala House.

In 2020, Kerala House was shut due to the lockdown with no flower rangoli or the Onam feast marking the festival. During the pre-Covid days, Kerala House would be flooded with both Keralites and non-Keralites to enjoy the Onam feast and to see the huge flower-rangoli that almost fills up the hall of the Kerala House. Gopinath said that the flower-rangoli this time would be of a limited size owing to maintenance work.

A forum named ‘Care for Mumbai’ formed by a group of like-minded Keralites during the pandemic had initiated to send 850 Onam feast kits of raw materials which can be used to cook the feast on Saturday. The kit was collected and distributed from outside the premises of Kerala House on Friday to around 40 locations of MMR.

“Being an initiative for the Malayalis, Kerala House extended its moral support,” Gopinath said. The initiative to send the kit was done to make sure that no Keralite family in MMR is denied Onam feast during the tough times the pandemic has posed.

Sindhu Nair, a Keralite social worker from Navi Mumbai said, “Since 2018, Onam for Keralites has not been a very happy one owing to the floods and then the pandemic. Last year was the most difficult one with everything shut. This time, with minimal decorations, we’ll celebrate at least in a small way.”