Mumbai: Onam celebrates the homecoming of every Malayali's superhero, the benevolent king Mahabali. When it comes to good times, Malayalis consider the times of the legendary Mahabali to be the gold standard. Malayalis relive those times of prosperity, equality and abundance by celebrating Ona with fervour. It's the time when family budgets have extra provisions, homes are refreshed and long pending shopping wish lists are fulfilled. Thus, Onam truly is the beginning of the great Indian shopping season.
The South Swag
Onam was always the biggest shopping season in Kerala. But this year, the South Indian festival is all set to be one of the biggest shopping seasons in the country as well.
South as a region was always seen as smaller or less flamboyant, with a far less appetite than north. Bigger cities, big business houses, big celebrations are all usually attributed to North India. But that position is observed to be shifting now. It was the evolution of the startup economy that began this change, with cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram riding the tech wave.
Now, South India holds lead positions when it comes to new economy parameters like internet penetration, data usage etc. According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Kerala comes a close second in terms of internet density in the country with 87 subscribers per 100 population.
In recent months this emergence has been amplified by the awakening of another south Indian giant - the movie industry. Back-to-back hits like “Bahubali”, “KGF”, “RRR” and “Vikram” are breaking collection records and are even becoming huge grossers in Hindi speaking states. This emergence of the South is a perfect prelude to the most awaited festival in Kerala, Onam.
An indicator of this trend could be found in the fact that Kerala's favourite Malayalam news portal Manoramaonline bagged gold at the WAN IFRA South Asian Digital Media Awards for the best news website for the third year in a row. The Onam Campaign from Manoramaonline - 'Kerala's Biggest Superstar coming soon' proudly points out this trend to the fraternity, thereby inviting it to become a part of this big festive season by ensuring that its brand is present on Manoramaonline.
