The Onam feast for nearly 2,000 people at the Siva Vishnu Temple in the suburbs of the American capital on August 26 will be served in banana leaves, in traditional style. But the stripped down version of the sadya — the feast — will have only sambar , thoran and pappadam followed by one variety of payasam . “The leaves have already arrived from Chennai, and but for that, there is no celebration. There will be a mass prayer for Kerala before the meal. All the money saved will go for rebuilding Kerala,” said Sasi Menon, a former chairman of the temple committee and the lead for the Onam event.
Malayali associations, temples, and churches across the United States and Canada have either cancelled or scaled down Onam celebrations planned for this weekend to support relief and rebuilding efforts in Kerala as the State recovers from the worst flood in a century. Other linguistic groups that are usually enthusiastic participants in the Onam celebrations of Malayalees are generously contributing to the kitty. “We have collected $50,000 already. We are hoping to collect $20,000 from the Gujarati community over the weekend,” said Sam Anto of the Kerala Association of Nashville, Tennessee.
Ranjith Menon, a World Bank official who coordinates a group of Malayalis at the workplace called Malayali Mesa, mobilised $10,000 with support from all communities. An event in Chicago on August 26 has two dozen organisations participating, such as the Telugu Association of North America and the Aurora Indian Community Outreach. Though Malayalees are taking the initiative, there is an outpouring of support from all communities, said Jose Abraham, general secretary of the Federation of Malayalee Associations of Americas (FOMAA). Mr. Abraham said most FOMAA member organisations have cancelled Onam events altogether.
“There will be light snacks to be followed by a video message from IAS officer Prasanth Nair who has been mobilising volunteers and support for rescue and relief through social media,” said Vishakh Cherian, an IT professional based in Indiana, one of the organisers of the Chicago event. Mr. Cherian had built a community of nearly 90,000 people on Facebook for making his home city Thiruvananthapuram “the best”. Even before the floods had spread across Kerala, Mr. Cherian started mobilising the community to help other parts of Kerala. “Dozens of other organisations in Thiruvananthapuram joined us. At least eight groups of volunteers travelled to Central Travancore region with materials in the initial days of the calamity, as they were prepared and Thiruvananthapuram was less affected. People from the U.S. and the U.K. supported it,” said Mr. Cherian.
Starting this weekend, Onam events were planned for all weekends through September. “A few have decided to go ahead with the plans, as the Onam event was the only source of income for them. Those who are going ahead with events have rebranded them as fundraising for Kerala,” said Vinod John, a graphic artist and photographer in Mississauga, near Toronto. Mississauga Kerala Association is contributing 10% of the ticket sales to Kerala Chief Minister’s relief fund, said president Prasad Nair, besides separate fund raising, he said.
Mr. John and Mr. Cherian said diaspora members hailing from less affected parts of Kerala or other States such as Tamil Nadu and Telangana were in a position to help victims. Groups in Mississauga could source supplies from Punalur, in Kollam district for relief camps in Aluva and Paravoor, in Ernakulam district, for instance.
Politicians in both Canada and the U.S. are supporting the community’s efforts. Indian-American Congressman from Illinois, Raja Krishnamoorthi, will attend the Chicago event on August 26. In Canada, Prime Minister Justice Trudeau has tweeted on the Kerala floods. Opposition leader Andrew Scheer attended an event organised by Brampton Malayalee Samajam.
