Keralites in Oman celebrate Vishu festival

Muscat: Thousands of Keralites living in Oman woke up to a colourful arrangement in their homes on Thursday morning to celebrate Vishu, the New Year festival of the south Indian state of Kerala.
The celebration started with ‘Kani kanal,’ meaning first sight, for which they had made arrangements the previous night.
On Vishu, Keralites believe that one should see good things in the morning as this determines their fortunes for the entire year.
Hypermarkets across the country displayed traditional items brought from Kerala to arrange the ‘Kani kanal’. People were seen making a beeline for the special sections at hypermarkets to buy items for Vishu.
People woke up to see “Vishukkani,” the ceremonial sighting of auspicious articles, such as rice, fruits, gold and flowers tastefully arranged in brass vessels, symbolising hope and promise.
“Every year, we do our best to celebrate Vishu just like in India. Every year, we make it a point to celebrate it because we want to keep our traditions and culture alive,” said Ranjith Parameshwaran, a resident in Ruwi.
“Vishu is mostly a family affair. After the morning formalities, my wife and I prepared sadhya (traditional lunch) and celebrated it with our two sons and some other family members,” said Ruwi resident Prajith Neelakantan. “I usually always take the day off for Vishu because I’m very keen on our children understanding our culture and where we come from.”
Heavy rush was witnessed in some of the top restaurants in Oman where people thronged to have ‘Sadhya’ a delicious meal prepared of rice, vegetables and fruits in the afternoon.
“The response this year was overwhelming. As it was a working day, most of the people did not get time to celebrate Vishu at home so they had to depend on restaurants that were offering Vishu sadhya,” said Sajith R, manager at Four Squares Resturant in Ruwi.
“Most of the orders came from office-goers and our delivery boy had a tough time driving around to serve the Sadhya on time,” added Sajith R.
Some Keralites celebrated a low-key Vishu in the backdrop of the Kollam temple tragedy, which left 113 dead, and over 350 injured. “We didn’t have any major celebrations this time because of the temple tragedy that killed hundreds of people in Kerala. It would be unfair to celebrate it,” said Anandan R from Al Khuwair.
“I miss the celebrations back in India because it is so much more vibrant and the entire family gets together,” Anandan added.