Some exciting moments of the Onam celebrations at our office this week. The extravaganza kickstarted with traditional games, such as Sunadrikku Pottu Thodal, Cup Stacking, and a Payasam Making contest. There was an entertaining puli kali, group songs, vanchipattu, Thiruvathira, musical chairs, and relay obstacle races on the final day of the event. A tug-of-war contest concluded the games, followed by a grand sadhya.
The Onam celebrations of IVL were a 3 day fun filled event with each passing day more exciting than the previous, and finally leading upto the main event. IVLs were in a fun-pact enjoyable mood of the traditional “Arpoo Irro Irro Irro” which eventually made the name of the programme “Arpo 2022”. The organisers where kept on their toes through the planning till the execution making sure that each programme could be enjoyed by every IVlion. The thought and work put into each programme had a fruitful victory when we saw the IVLions enjoying themselves in the “Arpo” atmosphere.
The programmes were kicked off in the first day with “Sunadrikku Pottu Thodal” and “Cup Stacking”. It was really fun to both participate and watch these games. IVLions were blindfolded and given bindis to place on the potriat of the sundari. It was a fun event where the participant had no idea where they were going and also on where to place the Bindi. The cup stacking was another challenging game. This is one game which required patience and a steady hand to play. OOnw wrong move and the cups will fall like a house of cards. We saw many contestants arrange the cups and shivering hands as the levels got high. IVLions had a lot of fun cheering for their favourite contestants. Thus ended the first day of the Celebrations
The Second day was a tasty packed activity- Payasam Making contest. Each team was required to present minimum of two Payasams made by them. The enthusiasm and dedication by IVLions to present and make the tastiest payasm was indeed commendable. Everyone was looking forward to tasting the payasams as they looked so delicious. We couldn’t wait for the judging to be over. The payasams presented were really tempting to not give a taste. The IVLions were contributing in any way they can to make their team’s paayasam presentable.
The Third and final day was a blast. The Onam celebrations. The celebrations kick started with a pulikali and blessing from Maveli in the office. Tigers and hunter were an energetic trio whose mere presence filled the audience with enthusiasm. After a short celebration in the office, we proceeded to the veue where much events awaited us.
The celebrations at the venue had a set of songs and the traditional Thiruvathira followed by a variety of fun, entertaining and competitive games. The First of which was musical chairs. A must have game for Onam, we played musical chairs with 12 IVLs and 11 chairs. The competition intensified as each participant was eliminated and went on till 2 participant and 1 chair. The cheering and enthusiasm in the faces of each IVLion was indeed a memorable sight for all organisers of the event. The relay of three games which followed next was another fun-filled event. The really needed to be done over and over again due to its competitive nature and the enthusiasm the participants were showing. As the saying goes “We save the best for last”, the tug-of-war was about to unravel. This is the most competitive game of any Onam celebration. Each team had 7 participants who were ready to pull their way to victory. The participants were sorted into 6 and made to compete with each other. The sheer competition and the cheering was as interesting to enjoy as the tug-of-war. The competition was a fight to finish with each team not ready to lose to another. It was finally the Product team who won the competition.
With all that spent energy, it was time for an energizing break. The Onasadhya which concluded Arpoo 2022. Delicious food being served on a banana leaf is the reminder of how our forefathers celebrated Onam. Onasadhya with two sets of Payasam were enough to fill the stomachs of every IVLions. But of course something was missing after all of this. Something that would only be announced later that day.
The results of the competition were announced in the evening with the Product team winning the first, Interns winning the second and Corportates winning the third. The celebration of success was in the atmosphere with other teams promising to bag the overall championship the next year. A Wonderful celebration of peace, prosperity and harvest celebrated by IVLions with their colleagues was indeed a heart-warming moment to spectate and organise.