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Onam nostalgia in Australia

Memories aplenty: Malayalis enjoying a sumptuous ‘Onasadya’ as part of the Onam celebrations organised at Townsville, Australia, on Saturday.

The Malayali diaspora in the city of Townsville, North Queensland in Australia, relived Onam with a memorable celebration on Saturday.

The celebrations, in which 250 Malayalis participated, were held under the banner of the Townsville Malayali Association.

Association member C.K. Vinish told The Hindu over telephone that many came dressed in traditional Kerala attire to take part in the celebrations.

The entire programme was in Malayalam. The participants made a pookkalam too to welcome Mahabali.

The Townsville Malayalis sang popular Onam songs. Dances were also staged.

The highlight was a sumptuous Onam lunch served on synthetic banana leaves, complete with a payasam.

All the dishes were cooked by the association members.

There was a competition for the best dressed-up person in Kerala attire and Sithara Hamza won it.

The prize was given away by Dorothy Gale, senior member of the association and a native of Murukumpuzha in Thiruvananthapuram. The programme ended with a tug-of-war and a group of Malayali students from James Cook University won it.

Ignatius Pereira

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