From the Paddy Fields to the Flower Market, and Back to the Soil
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...