The festival of Holi is upon us. For those who don't know Holi is known as the Festival of colours. It is celebrated all over India to signify the victory of good over evil. It is celebrated at the beginning of spring every year.
Holi celebrations last for two days. On the first day, a bonfire is lit which signifies the burning of evil.
There is a legend that says that a king by the name of Hiranyakashipu had the desire to be immortal and he was given a boon by the god Brahma which made him immortal. This boon, however, made him arrogant and he demanded that people worship him as a god and those who defied his orders would be killed.
However, his son Prahlad disagreed with his father and refused to worship him. This angered Hiranyakashipu and he made various attempts to kill Prahlad. During one such attempt, he asked his sister Holika for help. Holika had a special cloak garment that protected her from fire. Hiranyakashipu tricked Prahlad into sitting with Holika in the fire. However, as the fire roared, the cloak left Holika and protected the child and Holika burned in the fire.
The day after the bonfire is when the fun starts. This is the day when people can be seen all over the streets playing with colors. You can see every color in the air. Kids can be seen playing with pichkaris (water guns). Everyone is a part of the celebrations and by that, I mean "EVERYONE". It does not matter what religion or background you come from.
On this day, people also visit each other and exchange greetings. There is a variety of sweets that you can devour. You can find sooji halwa, gajar halwa, gulab jamun, milk peda , carrot kanji and thandai. It is an absolute paradise for someone who has a sweet tooth. The most important element of Holi is bhang which is an edible preparation of cannabis that is brewed into a drink. Bhang is technically illegal but can be obtained easily if you know the "right" people. ( wink wink)
I would like to share a personal experience about Holi. I lived in a building which was part of a residential complex. As kids, we used to start celebrations 3 days before Holi with colors, pichkaris, and water balloons (which were controversial) due to the danger they posed to everyone else. The day of Holi was total and utter madness. Celebrations used to start at 8 in the morning & used to finish by 1 pm. Everyone in the building used to come down to join in. At about 10 AM, people would become unrecognizable due to the mixture of colors and water on their faces. The morning used to pass very swiftly among all the fun.
At around half past noon, we all used to go home and try hard to wash off the colors of our bodies. After that, everyone used to come down again, but this time, it was to have a potluck lunch. We all had different delicacies prepared like Biryani, Chhole Bhature, and Chicken Tikka.
Eating the first bite of food after all the fun was almost a soothing experience. These potlucks were planned and unplanned at the same time because we knew we were going to have them every year but no one knew what dish the other person was preparing. Funnily enough, there was never a situation where we had two people bringing the same dish.
Holi is one of the most amazing festivals that India has to offer it is a positive feeling to see people celebrating despite their differences. There is an important lesson that I have learned from Holi, which is no matter what happens, try to settle your differences and move on.
