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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA September 1, 2003: Wherever they are, Keralites look forward to Onam as a great occasion to reminisce their long traditional past. But at home, part of the beauty and grace of the festival appears to have been lost to the demands of consumerism. With Onam just a week away, the state wears the look of an extended market place, as if the “festival of flowers” has turned into a “festival of fairs.” Blaring mikes announcing discount sales, make-shift shops offering readymade garments to electronic goods and streets jammed by traffic as people come out in hordes for festival purchase — the scene is the same in every town, and villages are not far behind in the mad rush. Gone are the days when children used to take time off their studies and go around picking flowers, singing Onam songs. Gone, too, are the days when the care-worn men used to plunge into the arena of rural sports, and women shed their shyness to display their artistic skills at the flower-bedecked front yard of homes.

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