Onam 2014

/

Western Sydney Malayalees made a history on 6th September 2014. Due to the collective effort of all Western Sydney Malayalees, 2014 Onam celebration was a grand success. More than 500 people have turned up in Wentworthville to celebrate WeSMA Onam this year. We also attribute this to the tremendous personal effort taken by some of our friends, in spite of their busy schedule. On behalf of WeSMA, we thank all of them for making the Onam celebration a Grand Success.

The audience have greatly appreciated the songs, dances, skits, Cine-drama and Chendamelam. It was awesome watching traditional performances from our own culture, both traditional and the more modern interpretations.

The evening was started off by Divya Binoy and Joseph Kalarickal followed by a performance of a few young dance students that was a powerful start to the night. This was followed by the great performances of Aleena, Nikki, Angeleena, Jesna, Renji, Nikhil and Mini.

Lijo Dennis, James Chacko and Binoy Joseph were the men behind the scenes, managing the sound and lights of the night.

A hilarious skit by the kids and a powerful dance performance by the kids were well appreciated. The Bharathanatyam performance with ease and grace was a breath-taking feat to watch. The crowd welcomed the Maveli in the procession along with chenda melam, the sound of Kerala’s culture. Keeping the culture alive, it was a standing ovation for the amazing performers.

An emotionally powerful dance performance, the story of a mother-child relationship was beautifully done, and very thought provoking. Dance performance by Joshila Jose and Nikhil Kottaram was well appreciated. It was indeed a pleasure to watch the great dance performance by Jaya, Jasmine, Jaina and Simone. Awesome duets by the teams Rajan Chandy & Aleena and Lijo & Neelu were well appreciated.

Introduced by Jacob Thomas, our chief guest, Susai Benjamin, spoke a few words and showed appreciation to our Malayalam teachers for their efforts.

Lijo Dennis presented an emotional Cine-drama  with a great story and screen play. It was a mix of both great acting and video, with neat set changes.

James Joseph gave a word of thanks. James Joseph and Biju George awarded the various prizes of the night. And the night ended off with giving all the kids who participated with a well-deserved round of applause.

The performers had put their mind and soul in this function, having taken time and keen interest to practice and perform. Many families had helped us by offering us their homes for the practice sessions. 

Thanks to all families who attended the celebrations and encouraged us. We hope that you all would continue to participate and make all our future WeSMA ventures successful.

We thank those who have taken the time to write to us to appreciate the efforts taken by all of us to make this event so successful. We truly appreciate your feedback on the photos and video.

Thanks to all sponsors who supported us in making this event possible.

To view the photos from the Onam celebrations, along with the story of the night, click on http://chrisajames.photography/events/onam-2014/