WHITE GIRL AT ONAM

Where on earth does the time go? I have been desperate to write this blog all week, and have finally managed to find five minutes to do so.

Monday 27th August was the day of Onam Festival. This is an Indian festival, celebrated mainly by the Hindus in the southern Indian state of Kerala. This is the area of India from which my husband's wonderful family hail.

Strangely, this is the first time I've heard of this annual event. I still have no idea why we haven't been involved on any of the previous years as apparently it has always been celebrated within our family.

Originally, this year's festivities were to have been held at my mother in law's ... but as she lives in a tiny one-bedroomed flat, it was deemed an unsuitable venue. Probably for the best, we were there last weekend for my brother-in-law's 21st and it was very much cheek to jowl... and there were only half a dozen of us that night! It was decided that the event would be held in MiL's sister's house instead.

"Auntie A" lives in Upton Park ... just behind West Ham's impressive football stadium to be exact. She has a nice house ... but there are no green spaces or beauty spots in that part of the world. Tower blocks and concrete are the order of the day. I wouldn't imagine one gets much privacy around there either as there are so many houses and so many people everywhere. Of all shapes, sizes and colours. But apparently it's a sought after area and I should imagine her house is probably worth more than mine.

I am told that Onam is a festival very much like our Christmas. We didn't exchange presents ... though my daughter did very well! Back in India, where it is celebrated properly, the rich always ensure enough food is available for the poor so that they don't miss out on any of the festivities.

The mainstay of the day is the food ... but I'll get to that later.

When we arrived, at about 1pm, the house was very quiet. Auntie's husband was the only person around ... apparently the women were upstairs getting dressed and we were the first relatives to arrive. This definitely helped our daughter to settle as she's not good with crowds of people, but if they arrive gradually, she's fine ... and enjoys being the centre of attention. We chatted to Auntie's Hubby for a while then made our way outside to the garden.

It 's the first time I've seen their garden. I didn't even know the house had a garden to be honest! But it does, and it's a surprising little haven. Peaceful and ... while not exactly pretty ... very homely. Rose bushes grow along the fences on either side and there's even a little fish pond. There's no lawn, but, as the sun was shining, we did make good use of the garden table and chairs.

A steady stream of visitors began to arrive. All the usual suspects in fact ... MiL and her husband, youngest Auntie R ... who is younger than me and a reluctant single mother ... Auntie A's children ... well they're not actually children ... J is 22 and married ... her brother A is 16. It was so lovely to see everyone. Auntie R and I have a good friendship and spent a long time chatting about her impending trip to India. She goes on Wednesday (my husband's birthday), and is very nervous about the flight. I totally empathise with her as I'm flying to France in a few weeks with my daughter and am already starting to fret about our journey.

The ladies were each dressed in colourful saris. They looked so beautiful, like sparkling jewels. I was offered a sari once for a family occasion, but decided against it ... much to my mum's relief. One day I would love to wear one, but I'll need to lose a considerable amount of weight first!

So, after an hour or so of idle chatter and laughter in the sunshine, it was time for the "Main Event" ... the food. Now this, is where things became really interesting ... and I am immensely grateful to both my MiL and Auntie A for the incredible patience and helpfulness they showed me. I'd asked hubby if there was anything special I needed to know ... he explained everything ... well, not quite everything!

We ate in "batches" of four at the little dining table in the kitchen.... but we didn't have plates ... oh no! ... we ate off banana leaves ... I'd never even seen a banana leaf before ... they're huge things ... green of course, and along the top edge of each leaf was a tiny row of beautifully coloured pickles and chutneys, including a shocking pink beetroot variety and three different ginger pickles. In the middle was a small pile of plain boiled rice. The whole visual effect resembled an artist's palette. To the rice, a procession of different vegetarian curries, none of which were very spicy was added one by one. They referred to these curries as "bisoms" ... sorry if that's not the correct spelling ... and referred to the pickles and chutneys as curries ... which I found very confusing ... as I did knowing which condiment was to be eaten with which course ... that hadn't been explained properly by hubby. "Oh I should've told you that." became quite a well used phrase during our meal. The pros ate with their hands ... whereas I ... the novice ... was allowed the luxury of a spoon!! One less thing to worry about at least!!

I finished my meal several minutes after everyone else and would have to say that I enjoyed the experience. It was stressful for MiL and Auntie A, as there were 4 sittings altogether and they oversaw them all, like colourful dinner ladies I suppose.

After our meal, it was back outside to the garden, where I chatted to Auntie R and hubby's cousin J again. We had a giggle and I have to say I really enjoyed the whole experience. My daughter, who normally doesn't like food, ate a little bit of the rice and some bisom ... not a lot admittedly ... but it was a start!!

Eventually it was time to leave so we said our farewells, and I took great delight in wishing everyone a "Happy Onam" which I think impressed them because I'd remembered the name! I don't think I'll ever forget it!

We called briefly at father-in-law's and spent a pleasant hour or so with him, his wife and her two children ... again, they're not children ... but then neither are William and Harry and everyone refers to them as "the boys". Luckily, FiL and his brood had already eaten ... I don't think I could've faced another banana leaf!! But he did give us savoury biscuits and fruit juice! I have to wonder where on earth hubby put the chicken burger & chips he bought later that evening!