The first sign of Onam, or any vacation for that matter, in Attingal is the traffic blocks. It is not that otherwise the traffic in Attingal is perfect. But the traffic jams of vacation times are of a different proposition. At present, it is not at all helped by the ongoing “marriage season”. People here believe that the month of Chingam (which started on August 17) is the ideal month for conducting a wedding. There is also a belief that the month of Karkkidakam, the month preceding Chingam in the Malayalam calendar, is not at all ideal for getting married. So, naturally Chingam witnesses an avalanche of marriages. The marriage auditoriums and contract carriers get a windfall of business during this season. A new auditorium called Innu Plaza was inaugurated recently. It is situated bang on Kacherinada, behind Imperial Bakery and Saroz Medicals.
The contract carriers and the numerous other vehicles which have become an integral part of the marriages for taking people to and from the auditorium definitely add pressure to the even otherwise moderately congested traffic. Also, so many people come home from abroad and other places in India to celebrate Onam. With traveling by bus becoming increasingly unfashionable, Attingalites are in for a traffic-jam-filled Onam. I think it is apt to quote a memorable, though somewhat crude, parody by Mr. Anwar Ali, a well-known Malayalam poet, of the famous Onam song. Its goes like this: “Onam VannOnam Vanne/ Tarritta Roadukalil/ Onam VannOnam Vanne/ Jeansitta Kundikalil”. (Although translation is famous for killing off the poetry, let me do that for the benefit of those who might not have got the meaning: Onam has come/ on the tar-laid roads/ And Onam has come / on the jeans-clad buttocks.)
The contract carriers and the numerous other vehicles which have become an integral part of the marriages for taking people to and from the auditorium definitely add pressure to the even otherwise moderately congested traffic. Also, so many people come home from abroad and other places in India to celebrate Onam. With traveling by bus becoming increasingly unfashionable, Attingalites are in for a traffic-jam-filled Onam. I think it is apt to quote a memorable, though somewhat crude, parody by Mr. Anwar Ali, a well-known Malayalam poet, of the famous Onam song. Its goes like this: “Onam VannOnam Vanne/ Tarritta Roadukalil/ Onam VannOnam Vanne/ Jeansitta Kundikalil”. (Although translation is famous for killing off the poetry, let me do that for the benefit of those who might not have got the meaning: Onam has come/ on the tar-laid roads/ And Onam has come / on the jeans-clad buttocks.)
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