There comes a point in every festival when preparation begins to feel like anticipation.
For many families, Thriketta arrives around that point.
Kerala Tourism describes the sixth day of Onam as a time for temple visits and adding fresh flowers to the growing pookalam.
But for Malayalis whose families now live across cities and countries, Thriketta also gives us a good moment to think about something at the heart of the Onam experience:
coming together again.
The pookalam is growing — and so is the anticipation
By Thriketta, the small floral arrangement that began on Atham has become much more elaborate.
More flowers have been added, preparations for Thiruvonam are gathering pace and the festival no longer feels far away. Kerala Tourism specifically identifies the continued embellishment of the pookalam as part of the day’s observance.
For families in Kerala, this may also be the stage when conversations turn increasingly towards visits, gatherings and the days ahead.
For families abroad, those conversations can sound very different.
Home is not always one place anymore
A Malayali family today might have parents in Kerala, children in the UAE, a sibling in Bengaluru and relatives in Europe or North America.
Onam has learned to travel with them.
A family reunion may mean everyone sitting around the same table in Kerala.
Or it may mean a phone balanced at one end of the table so someone thousands of kilometres away can join the conversation.
Community halls in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha or Muscat can become temporary pieces of Kerala for an afternoon.
That does not make the celebration less authentic.
It shows how traditions adapt when families move.
For those lucky enough to travel home
Anyone who has returned to Kerala during a festival knows that the journey itself can become part of the memory.
The suitcase filled with gifts.
The crowded airport.
Someone checking the flight status repeatedly.
Relatives waiting outside arrivals.
And eventually, that first cup of tea or meal after reaching home.
Sometimes the emotional part of Onam begins long before the sadya is served.
And if you cannot travel?
There should be no idea of a “lesser Onam” simply because a family cannot fly home.
Work, school, airfare, leave and everyday responsibilities do not always cooperate with festival calendars.
Home can also be recreated through familiar food, a pookalam, Malayalam songs, an evening call with grandparents or simply sitting together as a family.
For children growing up abroad, those repeated small traditions may eventually become their own version of childhood Onam.
MalluMetro Take
Perhaps one reason Onam matters so much to Malayalis living abroad is that the festival already carries the idea of return and reunion.
Not everyone can come back to Kerala every year.
But families can still find ways to come back to each other.
A phone call, a shared meal, a flight home or flowers arranged together on the floor can all carry the same message:
wherever life has taken us, there are still moments when we find our way back home.