It was quite a sight. Women in white sarees with exquisite golden borders, shimmering in the sun, sitting on the ground making elaborate motifs with flowers. It is called a pookalam, one of them said, smiling as she looked up to me standing in my ragged trousers, and staring. It had been a few months that I moved to Hyderabad to pursue my Masters degree. The sudden alacrity and festivity on campus was all thanks to Onam. It is the annual ‘Mallu festival’, I was told. All Malayalis celebrate Onam, irrespective of what ‘walks of life they come from’. “Just like your Durga Puja,” they added when my Bengali identity was revealed.

This allusion to the universalist nature of Durga Puja and Onam was startling. Let this be clear from the outset, both Durga Puja and Onam are caste Hindu festivals.