Indian Malayalee

Meet K.C Asoka Kumar Hi, my name is K.C Kumar and am an Indian Malayalee from the state of Keralam (Kerala)-meaning the land of coconut trees.

Heritage
I grew up in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum). Kerala is the southern most state in India. It has beautiful beaches that border the Arabian Sea and attracts tourists from around the world. I left Kerala in 1986 after 8 years service as a secondary school graduate teacher in Mathematics and joined my wife who had settled in East Ham.

Religion and culture
Over the last decade I have been involved in the development of the Sree Narayana Guru Mission of the UK. This organisation plays a strong role in ensuring the cultures and traditions of my community are continued. The children can learn to speak read and write Malayalam free of charge.

Celebrations
We celebrate many festivals in Kerala. Kerala is traditionally a rich and colourful culture. The Malayalee calendar is dotted with festivals both religious and non-religious, but the most exclusive one is Onam celebrations, which comes on the 'thiruvonam'day of the Malayalam calendar month of 'Chingam' (between mid-August and September). Malayalees from different parts of the U.K come to Newham to take part in the traditional Onam feast served in banana leaves as well as for cultural celebrations.

Food
Rice is the staple food and accompanies many of the foods that we serve such as 'Appam, Masal dosa, Idiyappam, parotta' puttu, iddali. These are some of my favourite dishes and can be eaten for supper or dinner and as well as breakfast. If I want to eat out, I will normally visit the Udaya restaurant in Katherine Road, E6 that specialises in Kerala cuisine.

Living in Newham
One of the things I like about living in Newham is the opportunity to maintain our cultures and traditions, particularly for our children. Even though many families are moving away to the neighbouring boroughs like Redbridge/Barking. I prefer to live in Newham to be close my community. Those who have moved, still have to come to Newham for socialising and shopping. In other words, Newham serves as the headquarters for the Malayalee community living in the U.K.

Language
Malayalam is the main language of my community. Some basic words used in Malayalam are: "Namasthe"-Greetings (Hello!) "Eavidea Pokunnu?-Where are you going?"Sukhamano?"-Are you all right?