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This Onam, Let Your Onakkodi Carry a Story

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Every Onam, a new garment enters the home. For some, it is a kasavu set-mundu; for others, a saree, mundu, shirt, kurta, dress or a child's festive outfit. Whatever its form, the Onakkodi has long represented renewal, generosity and the joy of beginning the festival in something new. Yet behind this familiar tradition lies a story that is rarely considered, the story of the fibre, the yarn, the loom, the dye, the water, the energy, the people and the resources that have gone into making the garment we wear. That story matters more today than ever. Clothing is one of those everyday products whose environmental footprint is easy to overlook because the finished garment is small, light and familiar. We see the colour, texture and design, but not the agricultural land or fossil resources behind the fibre, the water and energy used during processing, the chemicals involved in dyeing and finishing, the electricity required during manufacture, the transport involved in moving materials an...
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From the Paddy Fields to the Flower Market, and Back to the Soil

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T here was a time when Onam did not begin in a flower market. It began in the garden. It began at the edge of a paddy field, beside a pond, along a fence, near a pathway, in the backyard and in the small patches of green that surrounded a Kerala home. It began with a child carrying a small basket. The task was simple: find flowers. A few would come from the family garden. Some might be collected from a neighbour's compound with permission. Others could be found along field bunds, paths, and other places where seasonal plants grew. Children would return home with whatever the land had offered the previous evening or that morning . Then the flowers would be sorted. The pookkalam would be designed. And the celebration would begin. The flower carpet was not simply something people made . It was something they gathered from their surroundings . In earlier times, pookkalams traditionally used locally available flowers, while many of those native flowers have become scarce even in...
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Location: India
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