Sunday, September 7, 2008

It's Festival Time Again !


This morning when I got off the phone with my parents, I felt a sort of numbness……a numbness that comes out of an unsettling helplessness and painful realization that we will not be there at home with our families this year too, to be part of those celebrations around this festival time of Onam. The holiday spirit that spontaneously brings a refreshing mood amongst the family members…………utmost carefulness on the faces of the women making the shopping list and that last minute soft reminder to the men folk going to the market to buy only the freshest of the vegetables …………..the maddening crowd at those specially set up seasonal markets, Onachantha………unusually packed electronic shops lit with fluorescent lights and huge display boards with the special rates and irresistible discounts targeting the middle class………..families walking by the sidewalks carrying a handful of shopping bags from the city's best textile shops…………… the heaving flower markets selling various colours of marigold to make the ornately decorated floral carpet, Pookkalam though one cannot ignore the simplicity of Pookkalam made with 'naadan' flowers like mukkuttippovu, chemabarthippovu, chethi poovu plucked from one's own garden and backyard and sometimes from the fence too…… the phone bells ringing unremittingly with friends and relatives calling to greet each other………..a visit to 'Tharavadu', paternal/maternal houses ………..the overall rhythm of those festival days , the sound of the loved ones and the smell of the flowers and banana leaf and flavors of the feast just gets rekindled as I try to hunt for some familiar vegetables in this temporarily adopted foster home!!!!

We wish you all our readers a very homely and festive Onam……..enjoy these happy days with family and friends and ofcourse the elaborate feasts. And don't stain your Onakkodi, the new dress bought for celebration, while slurping that decadent Pradhaman/Payasam :) Well, this humble blog of mine, Mishmash! also gets its Onakkodi this year……a new template and new look :) Hope the readers of this blog finds this change pleasant!

Once again, festival greetings to all of you !

Luv
Shn
No part of the content ( articles, photographs, recipes) of this blog may be reproduced without my written permission.Copyright © 2007-2010 Kitchenmishmash.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.

48 comments:

  1. Hey Mishmash! I am there with you on this...even i miss celebrating such occassion with family....Happy Onam to you and CJJ and to your family....by the way i liked ur new look..white ....its very refreshing and cool...

    Rashmi

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  2. Mish mash onaashamshakal to you too.Nice new look.i love it.

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  3. i like only white templates. this is a really nice change :) good luck!

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  4. Onaashamsakal to you and your family MishMash. Have a wonderful year ahead and the blog's onakkodi is refreshing!

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  5. Wish you a very happy Onam, Shn! Love the new template. :)

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  6. Onam greetings to you dear Shn!!!

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  7. Onashamsakal to you too. My daughter tried her hand at pookkalam for the first time this year and had a lot of fun.
    Have a grand ona sadya and lots of fun.

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  8. nice template..white or ivory is my fav background color..i changed it recently just for the sake of change..;-p

    yes..for people like us staying away from home, lets make it our own special way..onamaashamskal to you and CJJ...have a great time..

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  9. happy onaashamshakal to u tooo...enjoy

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  10. Happy Onam to you. The new look is really nice. Really love your recipes.

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  11. Ona-shamshakal to you, dear Shn! Well the make over makes ur blog cool!!

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  12. Onam wishes to you and your folks!

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  13. heyyy mishmash! HAPPY ONAM! :) :), we already had this years first ona sadya at a association's celebration. :D
    Blog's onakodi is really nice, the words on the right side seem to be overlapping with the side bar, it ll be great if u fixed tht... :) and once again
    Happppy onam! :) :)

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  14. Happy Onam to you sweetheart! May God bless you with all the happiness in the World!:))

    Just saw this post, didn't realize Onam is on.I missed the Ganesha festival and last year's Shivaratri too because I didn't check the blogs!:P

    Enjoy, hugs. see you when I can.Busy days ahead!:)

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  15. Onaashamsakal to u and ur family dear!!! hmmmm i will miss all at home too....
    enjoy !!!

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  16. Hey Shn, wishing you and your family Happy Onam. Hope it was fun.
    Love the new look too!

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  17. Hey Shn, wish you and your family a very happy and fun-filled Onam. What a great new look for the festival!

    Hugs,
    musical.

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  18. Oh, how I wish you could celebrate with your family. I know how painful it is when you are separated during such special times.

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  19. Darling! I love the new look very very much! The white background really makes your beautiful photographs pop.

    It's a pity you and CJJ will not be able to be with the family again this year... enjoy the festival as best you can.

    Hugs always.,

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  20. Happy Onam,Mishmash..!!

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  21. Hi Shn,
    Wish you a very happy and prosperous Onam!
    Did not find the mention of Onathappan.
    Cheers,
    Salil

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  22. Mish,Happy Onam to You and CJJ.Hope you will have a delicious celebration.
    The mere mention of "Mukkuttippoovu,Chemparathi and chetthi' makes me mad.Paining starts from stomach..But I think Mish,we atleast have those memories to be nostalgic,the awesome spirit to cherish with..Let us try to be happy with them..(by the way,New look of your Blog home looks nice too)

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  23. Onaashamsakal to you both! The onakodi looks good and I'm sure you'll be cooking up a storm on Friday. And cheer up! :)

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  24. Onaashamsakal to you and your family Mishmash!!!!

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  25. hey mishmash! there is no overlapping now, infact it wasnt there when i came again after leaving that comment, thought you fixed it. its gone now! :) :) ur template is really pretty..

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  26. Happy onam to you and yours, dear Shn; love the new look of 'Mishmash' :-)

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  27. hmm.,. started the countdown to the feast?

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  28. Onashamsakal to you and your family!...am sure they won't miss the essence of the festival with such a great cook around.

    p:s: I hope to get a promotion from just peeling onions or chopping up stuff or stirring the payasam this time ;-D

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  29. hi...onasamsakal...time to make sadya...and visit to your blog helped a lot to decide sadya vibhavangal...thanks...and have a wonderful onam...

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  30. onakkodi nalla assalayittundu....
    randuperkkum njangalude "pachakkari" onashamsakal...))))
    Liz

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  31. Dear friends....

    Thank you for all your wishes .....and more happy to know that template change was accepted with a positive tone.....I was a bit anxious as all of us have this natural resistance to change, especially after seeing the same old template for more than a year.....Thanks again and see you all soon.

    Have fun :)
    Shn

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  32. Happy Onam.
    Cant get used to this template. I miss the old yellow one. But the irony is that yellow is one of colors i dont like but I liked it in ur blog. I guess its matter of time

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  33. Mish,

    Happy Onam and your blog is very bright like pookolam.

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  34. Shn,
    new template looks so good gorgeous .
    happy Onam to you and yours ..
    hugs and smiles

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  35. your onakkodi kalakki!
    happy onam dear to you and cj~

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  36. Onashamsakal to you both. Have a grand sadhya.

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  37. Hi Mishmash, wishing you a happy & joyful Onam. Eventhough u r far away fr ur family, I'm sure u'll be in their thoughts.

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  38. the new look is pretty great.Happy Onam to you and your family

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  39. I almost didn't recognise your blog. Nice new look.
    Hrudhayam Niranja Onashamsakal.
    Though these days there are no flowers in most backyards in Kerala for the pookalam. Flowers from TN are a big business during Onam.
    Even the backtards are giving way to booming real estate developments.

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  40. hey buddy, wish you a very happy Onam.

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  41. Love the new look, clean and elegant. Belated Onanshamsakal to you and CJJ!

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  42. I am under threat of starvation and "orphanment" I am adding you to my blogroll :| According to Amma, "how can you not have kitchen mishmash in your Internet???" brrr

    Kidding! I am adding you because I just love your blog as the recipes always come out well. I dream of cooking the same for the future hubby! Kidding again! :p Actually I dream of directing him to your blog and then enjoying the stuff he prepares for me. *burp*

    :p

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  43. Pooja, ohh dear...I hope your eyes get pally with the new template :)

    Anon, Jaya, Nanditha, Pravs, Sweetbites, Priyanka, Annita, Sharmi & Sig, Thank you friends for all your wishes....hope you all had a great feast :)

    Aparna, vazhi thetti poyi ennu vicharicho? :) yeah u re right.....also none cares for naadan pookkal these days...kids have no clue ...they can talk about orchids though!!

    Silverline, LOL :) and I really wish and pray that your dream is a reality soon.....angane sambicha oru bhagyam thanneyatto :))) Thanks a lot for adding the link :)

    Shn

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  44. Happy onam mishmash!hope u enjoye well!
    come and join in the chicken event going in my blog!

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  45. Hi Mishmash,

    I owe you a big 'Sorry' and a bigger 'Thanks'!

    The sorry is for forgetting,

    1. to wish you on Onam..
    2. to thank you for the great recipes I took from u...

    Today when my friends compliment me for the Onasadhya on 12th, I know it all belongs to you..

    Thank you soo much for the wonderful recipes you've given us through your blog. The taste of kerala and your thoughts make it an enjoyable read!

    Happy Onam and once again Thanks a lot!

    Warm Regards,
    Praveen

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  46. Srilekha, thank you....will send an entry if i happen to post a chicken dish...

    Praveen,that was a truly heart warming comment.....thank you so much for leaving such a nice long message.....so you did all the sadya alone...? had friends to help you out..? anyway, glad to know that you had a grand feast :)

    Shn

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