My most loved family event!

By Nanditha Vinod Nambiar

“The best thing in life is the people you love, the places you go and the memories you make along the way”- truly, whoever said this, really captured the essence of family and memories. 

Family events, which can sometimes be boring and extremely exhausting, really rank up to a few of the best moments in your life. It’s an amazing excuse to meet your family, catch up with your favourite cousins, eat your grandmother’s handmade delicacies, and most of all, connect to your roots. 

After living in huge cities, lined with massive skyscrapers and cemented roads (which are all amazing and overwhelming really), sometimes you really need to get away from all the bustling crowds, the labyrinth of streets, and unwind far away from the urban chaos.

With this in mind, I make my way to my hometown, Kerala, probably after years, to meet my relatives and attend the infamous Theyyam festival. It’s a must to travel by train to Kerala, to see all the greenery just pass you by and remind you that true beauty still thrives. 

So there I was on the train, reading a novel by Jeffrey Archer, while the rest of my family kept themselves busy by socializing with the people sitting next to us. But I was so excited to meet my cousins and eat my grandma’s famous Neyappam, that I couldn’t actually read anything. 

Soon, the train ride ended, and there we were, in the heart of Kerala, Thalassery. We then went straight home to Pinarayi, where my grandma lives in our ancestral home. That afternoon, we feasted on the most mouth-watering dishes on the banana leaf. 

The next day was the tenth day of the Malayalam month of Thullam, which meant that the Theyyam festival had begun. Every year, all our family members get together to see ‘Theyyam’ in our ancestral home. This was the first time I was going to see Theyyam, and I was very excited to understand this festival’s significance, culture, rituals, and more. Since this was a special year for me, Grandma gave me an overview of this celebration.

Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu who stemmed the advancing sea to save the land of Kerala, sanctioned festivals like Kaliyattam, Puravela, and Daivattam or Theyyattam to the people of the Malabar region. 

Theyyam originated from Kaliyattam, and it remains one of the major festivals celebrated in Kerala. Theyyam is a ritualistic art form, where a performer of a certain caste puts on a show to propagate and sustain deity worship. God is believed to have entered the body of the Theyyam performer and, hence, believers consider him as a visible manifestation of God and seek blessings. The dance begins as soon as the spirit of the deity enters the performer and lasts until the performer comes out of the trance-like mood. 

According to tradition, the eldest member of the family is given the responsibility of conducting Theyyam in the ancestral home every year. All members of the family come to watch this program every year to seek blessings from the Almighty.

Everyone in our family came together to help with the preparations. Then, soon after the Theyyam began. The performers wore flamboyant costumes and had heavy makeup on. They also wore majestic headgear and beautiful ornaments. The atmosphere was calm and peaceful, illuminated by the dim orange lights from the oil lamps. I felt the electricity in the scenery. The program included dance, mime, and music. I especially thought that the instruments that accompanied it really set the mood. 

After that exhilarating performance, we all set out to eat lunch (which, in my grandma’s opinion, is the most important part of the event). We all helped in cleaning out the banana leaves and serving the food. Gathered around, we told each other stories, had fun, and made amazing memories.

Even though we came together to celebrate our culture and traditions, it was an excuse to connect with our family. In this fast-paced world, even though we have gotten so well-connected, we are yet so far apart. This is how we connect to our roots again, together and laughing along the way. 

This is my favourite family event to date, not just because I went to see the Theyyam festival for the first time, but also because I got to see all my relatives, all together, under one roof. Family events may be tiring- but meeting your relatives makes it all worthwhile. 

Family is the constant in an ever-changing world, a source of strength, laughter, and unwritten stories that bind us together in an unbreakable embrace. Their significance lies not just in blood ties but in the shared experiences, memories, and profound connections that enrich our lives and remind us that, in this vast universe, we always have a place to call home. When we have each other, we have everything.

They say that “home” isn’t a place, it’s a feeling. Isn’t the feeling of oneness, love, and joy the greatest of them all?