The question I get asked most: “Can kids actually make a pookalam, or is it too intricate for them?” A simplified version absolutely works — the traditional pookalam can be quite elaborate, but a scaled-down flower arrangement in a simple pattern is genuinely manageable and still captures the spirit of the tradition. Q: What’s a…
The full Onam Sadya feast, with its many traditional dishes, felt like too much to attempt as an introduction for my kids, so I picked just a couple of simplified, kid-friendly elements to start with instead. Here are easy Onam-inspired snacks for kids that introduce some of the festival’s traditional flavors without requiring the full…
The question I get asked most: “Why does Onam celebrate a king who technically lost his kingdom?” This confused my daughter too the first time I told her the story, since it does seem like an unusual thing to celebrate at first. The actual answer, once she understood the full story, is that Onam celebrates…
