Holi hai!

Today is Holi, the festival of colours it marks the miraculous escape of Prahlad from the demoness Holika and her subsequent death. It is a Hindu festival celebrated on the last full moon in March (this time it was extra special due to the super-moon) lighting a bonfire, signifying burning the demons within us , the triumph of good over evil. Though not being overtly religious I have preserved a pouch of the ash of my first burning holika as a memoir.

So after appeasing the gods, the next day is the day of bright colours, bhang(almost like a drug, a drink prepared from the cannabis plant), pranks & a field day for the sweet-tooth’s. The city version is rain dances organized at social clubs, wet-t-shirts, pools of coloured water, peppy/trashy music & of course bhang. Holi parties are also a rage among the bollywood celebrities.

So Thumbs-up for:

Applying natural gulal & spraying water on friends & families

Water wars with rival gangs as kids

Relishing mothers freshly-prepared steaming ‘kheer’
Sitting around the bonfire, narrating 'ghost stories'

Thumbs-down for:

Black oil-paint which is tough to wash-off.

Hooligans throwing water balloons on unsuspecting strangers

Bad ‘item’ songs played as part of festivities.
Lechourous marrried uncles flirting with the aunties with their slogan being 'bura na manno ,holi hai'(don't mind its holi)

“HAPPY HOLI”