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Motifs that make Onam distinctive

Mahabali is all over, the favourite of ad guys. He has given Onam shopping a flavour of its own

KING STILL Mahabali is the favourite motif of the advertiser

That shopping is one of the pleasures that the Onam season offers in Kerala is by now a well-recognised truism. In such an atmosphere can advertisers and advertisements be far behind?

One has only to go around the main thoroughfares of the city during this time to get a feel of the shopping experience. There is a mad rush, the streets are choked, the traffic often comes to a grinding snarl and shops simply overflow with frenzied shoppers. There is brisk business all around, with shop windows displaying cut outs, colourful decorations featuring Onam motifs, and some even using novel techniques to lure the customer.

A routine perusal of the morning's dailies and magazines during this time is enough to give us a glimpse of the methods and means used to attract shoppers. There are advertisements galore offering tantalising discounts and freebies. There are prominent announcements that shout `Buy one and get two free' from white goods suppliers to garment sellers. Get huge cash discounts offered along with other bonanzas and gifts. The advertisements, big and small, colourful, sometimes extravagant are in keeping with the joyous, festive season. Don't be surprised to find Malayalam language phrases lavishly employed in the English language newspaper ads. After all this is Onam time folks!

Distinctive Onam motifs and greetings are splashed all over, on billboards, banners to give their message a distinct Onam flavour. Some of the oft-repeated motifs are the three geometrically shaped symbols of Mahabali, the plantain leaf, and floral carpet, among many others.

The season's favourite mascot is, of course, Raja Mahabali, in whose honour the people celebrate with nostalgic memories of a golden age. His presence is used to launch everything from non-stick ware to e-greetings. But then his eye-catching personality, with his umbrella, his distinctive moustache and his headgear is adaptable to all types of ads ranging from the serious to the witty and the amusing. He is also a great favourite with shopkeepers who wish to adorn their premises with large cut outs and similar paraphernalia.

The plantain leaf and the `pookalam' or the floral carpets are other lavishly used motifs since they are so intrinsically related to the festival. The `pookalam' lends colour to an advertisement or event and offers itself to both natural and abstract representations. It also lends itself specially well to compositions which include idyllic Kerala settings and is apt for those who wish to use photographs with models who may display whatever the advertiser wishes right from clothes to television sets in an atmosphere that evokes natural grace and verve. Many a memorable advertisement has successfully incorporated with this motif. One of the inevitable parts of Onam is the traditional vegetarian `sadya' served on banana leaves. And if there is one, trusted motif for hotels and restaurants it is the green, natural, plantain leaf that gives that ethnic, traditional touch to the festival.

The fun, boisterousness and outdoor games associated with the festival are vividly captured by the symbol of the racing boat gliding through the waters rowed by numerous oarsmen. So vividly have the Onam motifs captured the public imagination that there is hardly an Onam event where they are not in evidence.

PRATIMA ASHER

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