From the editors
Yet another Onam is here. It is time for another Onasadya, some chenda melam, another round of cultural programs andcatching sight of Maveli. However, this Onam is very special to us as it is the 10th time that Maithry has brought togetherBay Area Malayalees on this festive occasion.
On this day, we look back at the decade gone by and reminiscence the very first Onam. It was a small gathering of twelvefamilies in August of 2002. We had gotten together at Valley Green Apartment club house in Cupertino and celebratedthe festival with Vadamvali, Uriyadi, Lemon race and Athappoo, not to mention an Onasadya.
The rest –as they say– is history. With every Chingam, the party has only gotten bigger and better. Now that we haveten years behind us, we thought it would the perfect time to bring out a souvenir with stories, poems and artwork fromthe members of this all-volunteer committee.
Thank you for your contribution. We also thank you for continued support and co-operation that helped Maithry hit this10th-year mark.
¨WnfwhI³!
Editorial teamMaithry.
About Maithry
Maithry is a coming together of Malayalees living in the Silicon Valley. It is an organization sans the traditionalstructure of one, yet has made its presence felt in the SF Bay Area and is famous for its camaraderie.
Maithry aims at bringing together like-minded Malayalees who call themselves “modern in outlook and traditional inspirit.” This socio-cultural community celebrates festivals with great pomp, showcases ethnic dance and song, andencourages young talent, apart from casually catching up over a BBQ or a game of some kind.
The members of this not-for-profit group meet regularly at different venues depending on the occasion, the season andthe volume of the gathering.
An idea that was mooted out to build a close-knit circle of twelve Malayalee families in 2001 is today a grand networkof over 500 proud Keralites who call Silicon Valley home. Through online social networking, an email group anda website, there is constant communication among the members of Maithry, thereby being virtually connected inbetween events. From sharing details of local events to enquiring about services, and from putting forth personal orprofessional requirements to holding discussions, these platforms have turned out to be a vehicle of mutual help andmutual benefit.
Maithry is our way of connecting with our fellow Malayalees and being there for each other. Maithry keeps us groundedand reminds us of where we came from and provides our children with a plethora of opportunities to embrace theircultural roots.
If you want to keep the Malayalee in you alive, you are welcome to the Maithry family.
Join maithry at http://maithry.org/.
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
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Summer Suns and Silver Stars
Navneeth Pillai
Over the hills and across the valleyEvery single tree clad in greenThe leaves are fluttering in the breezeKerala is truly a sight to be seen
When dawn comes the rooster crowsThe sky is bright, the sun aglowPink are the clouds, blue is the skyThe wind so soft that I flutter by
From every mountain to every lakeSlowly people start to awakeThey blink their eyes and get to their feetAnd start their day with a warm cup of tea
As the sun rises, high in the skyThe light is dawning, its colors brightThe world is awake now, the day has begunAs people leave their homes, one by one
Children run on their spirited feetAs elderly people walk through the streetRickshaws, cars, bikes, and trainsPeople travel throughout the day
And when the stars twinkle in the night skyAnd people gratefully start to fall asleepA single bird sings, awaiting tomorrowIts voice is beautiful, melodious and deep
tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 1 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
The Blue Jackal
Nidhi Naroth & Vishnu Naroth
Once there was a wild jackal who had a very hardtime finding food in the jungle, so he tried his luck inthe city. He looked in bowls and trash, but couldn’tfind anything. Suddenly a few dogs showed up andstarted chasing him. The jackal jumped into what hethought was water and hid there until he was sure thatthe dogs had left. He came out and to his surprise hewas all blue and realized that he was hiding in bluedye! He had soaked up too much dye. The wind blewso hard that the coat of dye quickly dried up. Thejackal thought this was just adding to his bad luckuntil he reached the jungle.
In the jungle there was a conflict going on about whoshould be the ruler. There had been several brawlsand arguments about it. When the animals saw thejackal, they all ran in fright. They had never seensuch an animal before. The jackal saw his advantageand said, “Do not worry, I have come from heaven totell you that I shall be your new king, and you do notneed to fight any more. As your new king, you are torespect me and in return I shall help you and protectyou.”
The animals didn’t like this idea. All of them had their ownideas of being a king themselves but they did not want toquestion the jackal’s authority.
The jackal led a great life compared to the other animals inthe forest. They gave him food, provided comfort and paidtheir respects. Some of the animals like the larger ones didnot like worshiping something that seemed smaller and weakerthan themselves. Nobody ever knew the truth.
One fateful day, the jackal was in court with all his subjects.All of a sudden it started to rain very hard. The jackal foundno shelter and all his blue dye started to wash away in thedownpour. The animals saw that this was just an ordinaryjackal. They got furious and chased the mischievous jackalaway. The jackal never came back to the jungle again.
tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 2 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
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tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 3 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
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tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 4 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
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tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 5 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
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tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 6 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
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tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 7 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
My Onam Breakfast Memories
Leena Antony
One more Onam season is here; bringing back all the childhood memories of the festival season; the fragrance of rareflowers fully bloomed and ready to be plucked, the aroma of freshly fried pappadams, banana chips and payasams.Iwas born and brought up in Thrissur the cultural capitol of Kerala. Thrissurians loves food, festivals and celebratesnumerous religious and social festivals with much pomp and glory. Church Festivals, Onam Special Pulikkali andPooram are some of the prominent festivals. All these years, wherever I used to be, I had always managed tomake my grandmothers and mothers special recipes during the festival season. I believe the Onam breakfast wasalways over shadowed by the sumptuous Onam Sadhya. This year kick start your Thiruvonam with this traditionalOnam Breakfast with Vaazha Ela Ada, Aval Velayichathu and Steamed Nenthrapazham with Pappadam served ona Banana Leaf.
Vaazha Ela Ada
The taste of the food is enhanced when prepared with or eaten on a Vaazha ela or banana leaf, also it has greatmedicinal properties. It is for this reason that the food used to be served on banana leaf. Ada is wrapped in Bananaleaf and is steamed for some time. It can be prepared with either jaggery or with sugar; I love the jaggery one.
Ingredients
• Rice flour - 2 cups
• Grated coconut 1 cup
• Jaggery 1 cup
• Cardamom 2-3
• Water- as needed
• Salt a pinch
• Banana leaves (if you do not have banana leaves no worries; use parchment paper oraluminum foil)
Preparation
Filling
• Add Jaggery to water and allow it to dissolve completely.
• Filter it to remove the dirt in jiggery.
• Now add the grated coconut and crushed cardamom pieces to this filtered jiggery syrup.
tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 8 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
• Ensure the consistency should be thick.
Dough
• Boil water with a pinch of salt.
• In a mixing bowl, add the rice flour, pour the boiled water and make it into a dough.
• Knead the dough well and keep it aside for sometime
Wrapping in banana leaf:
• Take a clean and dry banana leaf
• Place the rice flour dough and spread it across evenly (circular shape).
• Now take some filling and place it in the centre of the ada.
• Now fold the leaf so as to enclose the filling. The leaf should be folded such that therice dough is folded at its half to a semi-circle. Press the leaf gently, especially at theedges of the rice dough. Fold the edges of the banana leaf without disturbing the ricedough.
• In a steamer, place the folded leaves and steam it for some time say 15 minutes inmedium flame.
• Take it out from steamer, remove the leaf and serve it hot on a fresh Banana Leaf.Enjoy!
Steamed Nenthrapazham with Pappadam
I still savor the taste of this simple food all you need is to get few nenthrapazham.Cut the bananas into 3 equal parts and then steam them for about 10-15 min. Thereis no need to remove the peel.
Get a packet of fresh Kerala Pappadam and fry the pappdams; heat enough oil in apan and deep fry and keep it on a paper towel to absorb the extra oil. No microwavedpappadams for Onam. Now you serve one banana piece at a time on a nice crispy cleanbanana leaf, remove the peel, and sprinkle grated Jaggery shavings and cardamompowder while still hot; take a pappadam or two crush with your fingers on top of thebananas and then just mix it up. Make small balls of the banana-pappadam mixtureand then simply savor it! I am just so crazy about it!
Aval Velayichathu
Aval Vilayichathu is made using Rice Flakes, coconut and jaggery. Aval Vilayichathu,if roasted properly can be stored for a long time.
tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 9 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
Ingredients
• Red/Brown Aval 2lb
• Shredded Coconut 1 or 2 whole coconuts
• Jaggery 3lb
• Powdered Cardamom - 10
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tbsp
• Dried Ginger Powder 1 tsp
• Ghee 3 tbsp
• Water as needed
Preparation Method
• Heat a non stick pan and dry roast cumin seeds. Keep it aside.
• To the same pan, add the aval and roast it for around 5 minutes till it becomes crisp.Remove and keep aside.
• Next, add the grated coconut to the same pan and fry it on medium-low heat stirringcontinuously, till it becomes light brown in color. Remove and keep aside.
• In another pan, boil jaggery along with 1 cup water. Stir continuously until it meltsto form syrup.
• Allow it to cool and then filter the syrup.
• Reheat the filtered jaggery syrup for around 5-10 minutes until it begins to thicken.Stir continuously while it thickens.
• Transfer the jaggery syrup to a bigger pan and add the fried coconut to this syrup andmix well.
• Add the fried aval slowly into the syrup and mix well until combined. Sprinkle thecardamom powder, roasted cumin seeds and dried ginger..
• Pour ghee over the mixture and Mix everything.
Note: You may need an extra mile walk on your treadmill for one week.
tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 10 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 11 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
Kerala’s Feasts
Siddharth Kulkarni
Pepper, ground black, shaved into flakes,Just a spoonful of peppery stew is all it takesTo step into a world of curries and cakes,With flavors so good that your body shakes!
It shakes to the rhythm of the spice in your head,As you eat it with appam, a kind of bread.As you gaze out at the appetizing spread,It will still tempt you as you lay down in your bed.
Taste and marvel at the yummy fish molee,Made with the tastiest fish in the sea,Flavored with the fruit of a coconut tree;Eaten with steamed rice, you’ll love this curry!
After a meal, eat some cake or a sweet,Sip a bowl of payasam, and you’re in for a treat.You could have Tellicherry cake after the meat,Or perhaps some unniappam to cool the spicy heat.
For a snack, have parippu vada at evening tea time;Dosa and idli are other snacks that taste sublime.Sambar and chutney makes their tastes so prime,How about some uppumavu with a sprinkling of lime?
For fruit, try pazham pori, a sweet banana fritter;Or kaipakka kondattam, with gourd which is bitter;Or, have some prawns to set your taste buds a-twitter;Lastly, the coconut water to make you laugh and titter!
All these foods are scrumptious – the flavors make you spin;Now you know about Kerala cuisine, so let the sadya begin!
Books in the night
Siddharth Kulkarni
My room is a buttery source of light. . .In this dark, consuming night
I am not alone, for I have a book,As I sit in my secluded, cozy nook
This book, it tells the most wonderful tales,Of magic and heroes and enchanted trails
And so in this lonely dark,I read of quests upon which heroes embark
Why cant magic, I wonder,Exist in real life to prevent a blunder?
A missing homework, a failed test,With a pocketful of magic these are things I could best!
But alas, these things are confined to my book of fiction,If I were a character, my lack of magic would be a deadly
affliction!
Why do people have to be so mundane?With magic Id be riding the gravy train!
Now I wish with all my will,That I will have magic so that life is a thrill
As the night rolls slowly on,My book slowly reaches the denouement
At the end of this superb story,My mind was like an idea quarry
Stories formed and dissolved in my head,I needed another book so my imagination would be fed
So I sit and read till my imagination will ignite,Sitting, and reading books in the night.
tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 12 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
Parenthood
Vidya Ramesh
The senseless giggling lighting up their faces,Honest observations in perilous situations and times,Boundless curiosity disturbing your placid routine,A fountain of energy in the middle of the night.
A challenge everyday to be a model of righteousness,Being a source of tough and unconditional love,
To pretend to play and tell little white lies,Surprising yourself by your patience and imagination.
Being a guardian to your innocent trusting childWithout which you would not have been able to findThat there is in each of us a dormant secret powerWhich, only these spotless souls could uncover.
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tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 13 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
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tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 14 www.maithry.org
Maithry - Bay Area Malayalee Community · Onam 2011 Commemorative Souvenir September 2011
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CtÁncq aq¿bo·YbnIqÁquen?
Silence
Vidya Ramesh
Silence is -Awkward between known peopleAppropriate between strangersAsked for in certain placesAnnoying when you need informationAppreciated when you are stressedA passive aggressive behavior.Silence is powerful.
Butterflies
Ashwita Nair
Beautiful Butterflies:
Beautiful butterflies,gorgeous fluttering wings,dancing in moonlight,
swaying all around,wonderful colors all round,colors like rainbow,
wingbeat as a heartbeat,marvelous as a flower,beautiful fliers
tta}Xo ¨Ww eoufgn²}]Xo · th]mXw_± 2011 15 www.maithry.org
DÉS·w
\ÅqtS ¨Ww t]nuÁnWw (IeoX) . . . . . . . . . . 1
Summer Suns and Silver Stars (Poem) . . . 1
The Blue Jackal (Story with pictures) . . . . 2
}]^qÈNcoXw (IY) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
My Onam Breakfast Memories (Recipe) . . 8Vaazha Ela Ada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Steamed Nenthrapazham with Pappadam . . . 9Aval Velayichathu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Kerala’s Feasts (Poem) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Books in the night (Poem) . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Parenthood (Poem) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
eoZy ecqÁ eko (IeoX) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Hcq hn° uinth ¨Ww (IY) . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
¨±Åbo² Hcq ¨Ww (IeoX) . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Silence (Poem) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Butterflies (Poem) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
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Cover designed byManoj Empranthiri
Cover art bySreejith Sreedharan
Typesetting byUmesh P. Narendran
EditorsDivya Nambiar
Manoj EmpranthiriUmesh P. Narendran
1
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