GAMA (Greater Atlanta Malayalee Association) celebrated this year's Onam on August 28 at Berkmar High School.
The theme for this year's celebrations was "Onam as in God's Own Country", since Kerala also celebrated Onam on the same day.
The celebrations began at 12 noon with a sumptuous and delicious Ona Sadya, the traditional feast consisting of rice and several
vegetarian side dishes and paayasam. Entertainments began at 1:30 PM with a Thiruvathira dance choreographed by Beena Kumar
to the tunes of an enchanting song from the sixties.
This was followed by very promising displays of talents by the junior members of the community, notable among them being "pretty woman"
by Jaison,Roshan, Alvin, Jermy, Julia, Peter, Philip, Paul and Nitin, "oru padaswaram" by Kristen, Christina, Jaimy, Sharon, Julia and Shayan
and a Bharatha Natyam recital by Kritika Subramaniam. Sathish Menon and Sebastian Thaliyath ventured into a new area by singing a Hindi-Malayalam
fusion song (or Jugal Bandi?).
The programs were capped by a Mohiniattom, set to the music composed by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, performed by Beena Kumar, Rakhee Rajeevan
and Sangita Kumar, followed by a heart rending recital of a classical song by Murali.
The star event of the evening, however, was a Dance Drama choreographed by Savitha Viswanathan of Kalakshetra. The drama was based on the famous
poem "Poothappattu" by Edassery Govindan Nair. Poothappattu retold a folklore in North Kerala about a "pootham" - meaning devil - who became
fascinated by a child Unni, but eventually had to surrender to the love, sacrifice and dedication of Unni's mother.
Earlier, Jayan Savio, one of the Emcees for the program, sprang a surprise by donning the costumes and assuming the accent of a 'Chaakiaar'. The
humorous interludes provided by him were a change from the traditional setting.
The celebrations came to an end at 5:30 PM with the recital of Indian National Anthem.
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