Memories attached to Holi:)

Do you know whats on 21^st March?...HOLI!@#:) The festival of colours. Again I’m not able to stop myself from expressing my love for my country. Oh God! We Indians are so lucky! Its such a wonderful place to be in. So many lovely festivals, so many varieties of people, so many different languages, so many delicious things to eat:) Aaah!!! It feels so good to be an Indian:) :) :)

Oh! I think I deviated from the topic. I was talking about Holi. Coming back to Holi, I think its one of the most exciting festivals of India. Festivals also have a lovely trait of uniting the people since everybody comes out and has fun. My Holi has always been very exciting and colourful, may be because I used to stay in Bihar. Aah! Woh bhi kya din the…

I still remember, I had fever when I was a kid, on the day of Holi and still I went out to play. And Tinky didi managed to completely colour my face since I was too small to fight back. I was still giggling with my blue teeth( wondering how such silly things also made me ebullient and happy when I was a kid:))

On every Holi, the first thing which I used to do before coming out was applying oil generously, all over the body, so as to avoid colour from sticking firmly to the skin. But even after doing so much, the colours remained intact for atleast a week after Holi. And it was always fun, going to the school, the next day, with red-blue faces. Actually we tacitly tried to show off that we have had the most colourful Holi, with our colourful hands and faces as a proof of that. Infact I still remember how my mom used to shout, asking me to rub my skin thoroughly to let go the colour, during my post-Holi-bath; and how I used to take an effortless bath just to make sure that the colour remains intact for the next day display in school. I would come out of the bathroom complaining that despite of applying so much oil, the colour is not going off;)

Before the day of Holi, bonfires are lit at night, just as we do it here in Andhra Pradesh on Bogi, or in Punjab on Lohri. Its called “Holika dahan”. There are many stories explaining the reason why the “dahan” is conducted. The story which has been told to me since childhood is that it signifies burning the demoness Holika, HiranyaKashyap’s sister when she tried to kill Prahlad, HiranyaKashyap’s son, who was a Vishnu devotee. I remember all my lovely Holis in Bihar but I remember only 2 Holika dahans. That’s because only twice in my life I managed to stay awake, the day before Holi, to watch Holika Dahan. Well actually that’s not my fault as Dahan generally starts at around 2 o’clock at night and I was too small a kid to be awake at that time. I remember how my bro used to scare me with all sorts of ghost stories just to make sure that I don’t bug him to take me along with him at night. Well there could be another reason too, for watching only 2 Dahans-I cant stay awake at night(as he always says:))

The actual day of Holi is known as Dhuleti. In the morning we used to play with coloured water and in the evening with abeer i.e, dry colours. I miss all those fun filled days-those lovely Dawats, those lovely dishes(puvva, kathal ka sabji & chicken are the specials on Holi), those beautiful evenings, Parents complaining that the colony children spoiled the walls with colours…everything is special about Holi.

But the best part was P.N.Sharma Uncle’s Holi Party. He was the Union Leader of Tata Steel in West Bokaro(our area), and his house was right in front of ours. So he used to throw a big party on Holi(as if he is Lalu Prasad Yadav). All the uncles used to lose their senses after 2-3 matkas of Bhaang and they used to start singing and dancing, with a dhol hanging on their necks. Trust me, it was like the actual Lalu Prasad Yadav Holi Party which the News Channels show on Holi. We used to go back to our homes for post-Holi-bath by that time.

There was one matka-phod function which was organized at the local market place, where the guys have to get on top of each other to build a human pyramid so as to break the matka, while the girls will be throwing coloured water on them. Unfortunately I never got a chance to see that as dad never allowed us to go to the market place on Holi since the plebeian crowd used to take over on that day.

One thing I must admit-Holi sometimes becomes really nasty at some places, with people using eggs and paints instead of colours. The natural colours have also been replaced by harmful synthetic colours(thank God! Natural colours are catching up again because of increasing population of skin conscious people). You can be sure of listening to atleast a couple of cases in which children lose their eyesight because of Holi colours. But as I always say, there is a deep significance of all the cultures, a deep reason why some things are done the way they are done. The playful throwing of the coloured powders has a medicinal significance: the colours are traditionally made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs which are very beneficial to skin, according to Ayurveda.

So one can avail the true benefits of Holi colours by using the naturals colours. Though they are a bit costly, nothing can be more valuable than ones health.

Festivals spread harmony, unity and togetherness. So everybody should come out of their shells and mix with the crowd and enjoy the day. But there are some unfortunate ardent souls like me who are too enthusiastic to play but has no one around to play. So this time I have to spend my Holi watching the children of my apartment drench in colours; remembering the good old days(something which I’ve been doin since the last couple of years).

Anyways,

Happy Holi folks!!!
Have a Colourful and Safe Holi!!
Have a Blast!!!

P.S- Forgot to mention my favorite Holi song.
Yes, you have guessed it right!
Rang Barse Bheege Chunar waali rang barse:)