Tracy Hills Onam - 2023
"Ranjini is going to come, and she is going to scold everyone for not using the stand. We are all going to say it is Cinish's idea". And so, a few of us started using the wall in the hall directly to do the decorations. Divya Vipin mentioned that Ranjini has arrived at the parking lot. I had recently watched "Jailer" (not "Petta") from theatres, and even Rajni had not got as much build up.
Meanwhile, ladies were setting up the pookkalam on the stage. As part of the hall decoration, the circular top over which the pookkalam was to be put, got some expert level centering to position it at the middle of the stage, aligned with the "nettipattam".
Vijesh and Anoop had the most important task of bringing in the sadya. We were all geotracking them and as soon as we knew they are close enough, Prakashettan welcomed us back for the second Tracy Hills onam with the convenience of Gireesh's wireless mike. Raji's parents lit the ceremonial lamp to officially start the event.
Total strength was 63, and the seating count at the tables were at 32, perfect count for a two round seating. Ranjini had taken over the very pivotal role of the MC(Master of Ceremonies). We started off on a high note with Ajith's exceptional flute performance, followed by Gireesh's seasoned solo song, and a couple of children's performances - all of which were very nice. This was a warm up for the much awaited "Thiruvathira" performance. Just like last year, the performance was very good. After the performance, the "Thiruvathira" ladies posed for this photo.
In the background, sadya items were being brought over from the car to the kitchen area in the hall, transferred from the silver trays to serving vessels, paper rolls were spread over the dining tables, green paper leaves awaited food and eaters. Very efficient utilization of time. This year, I had bought myself a belt with a pretty good grip, so I also participated in serving food. Usually, I tend to stay at one place when I am wearing a munde. Sadya was very tasty - no complaints. However, pot luck sadya that we had last year was at par this catered sadya. May be, next year, we can go back to pot luck, and save some money.
Once the sadya was done, it was time to continue the cultural events. Ajith was back with a carnatic performance, this time with his two daughters who were on the vocals, while Ajith was on the flute. I had got the opportunity to sing "pal nilavin". I thought, I was relaxed - I know most of the folks here, but for some reason my mike holding hand was shaking violently. I was wondering should I use my left hand to hold the right hand still, or should I hold the phone to see the lyrics. It is not new - had happened last year as well. I definitely cherish the opportunity that I got to perform - I sang the first half off beat as my phone youtube video was out of synch with the karaoke, and in between I tried to fix it, and completely lost track. Luckily, I had the lyrics that Divya had shared, got on to that - this time, singing aligned better with the karaoke, as there was no phone video to lag me. Gireesh followed with "Ambalapuzhe.." performance - seasoned and professional.
Our group song performance came next, and while we were thinking this was going to be viral - and potentially beat the version we are copying, we hit some technical snags there as well - some of the mikes were not turned on for part of the performance. Next up was a very entertaining mens' dance performance. As soon as I saw the line up, I walked to the back of the seating area. I knew I had to get a centred view of whatever was going to come. Hilarious, and entertaining performance. Saji's performance would have to kept under wraps to prevent it from going viral. It is just a matter of one of us uploading a youtube video!
Time was keeping pace with us, and it was already past three - and we had to surrender the hall by four. Since we were well planned, we were clear that "vadamvali" was going to be next event. That is the fun event. You can "lime and spoon" all day long but you are not gonna have as much fun and energy that a "vadamvali" can bring out. We had best of three with ladies first. The winning team literally got a walkover. They just took the rope and walked over to victory. The men's "vadamvali" was a different story altogether. I was with Prakashettan, and sure enough, he had scientific technique of leaning forward to put your full body weight on pulling the "vadam", by pulling it over the shoulder. Again, thanks to the belt, I could participate, and I followed suite, and I don't know if it helped, but we won the first round. The second round, we lost pretty easily. Third round was win-win, first the other team won, and then we won. Since the first win counts, they were the overall winner.
I had noticed a lady who was not in kerala saree - in black jeans, and black t-shirt. I had forgotten to wonder who she was. As it turns out, she was the person who we need to return the hall keys to. Again, efficiency in planning had seen some of us take part in cleaning, while the events were happening in the background.
It was an excellent event! No slack whatsoever, nicely paced, always engaging. Thank you to everyone who worked behind the scenes!
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