Onam celebration with a difference

It was celebration time for the 108 inmates at Asha Bhavan, a home for female destitutes and mentally retarded children,at Kozhimala near Eraviperoor with the students and staff of NSS

Higher Secondary School at Kaviyur near Thiruvalla taking Onam to their door steps on Tuesday.

They rejoiced, dancing and singing songs, besides participating in the floral decoration (Athappoovidal) and tug-of-war contests in their own style.

Perhaps, this is for the first time an entire school shifts its Onam celebrations to a destitutes’ home like Asha Bhavan attached to Malankara Orthodox Church, according to Mother Superior Elizabeth and her assistant, Sophia. The inmates Relishing the Onam feast with such a large number of students was an experience to the inmates. Dhananjayan, a Plus-Two student, dressed as Mahabali the legendary king in whose name Onam is being celebrated was another major attraction of the celebrations. The `Mahabali’ liberally offered banana chips and sweets to the inmates, elevating them to a pleasant new world, atleast, for some time.

All the 300 students and 24 staff took part in the celebrations, said Ms V.R.Shobhanakumari, school principal. It was also an occasion for the students to witness the pathos present in the world around them, she said.

The programme came to a close, later, in the afternoon and many an inmate was found breaking down, bidding good bye to the visitors.