Holi: Color, life lessons and nostalgia.

It's March of 2016 and here I am in the United States, 2 years after my last post, blowing the cobwebs off my blog. I took a moment to read my older posts and remember the people who were a part of all the hilarious situations I've been in, who have been so excited to see by "Blog alert" posts on Facebook and have constantly told me they've missed my writing. My first blog post was about a conversation with Babz (My grandfather, who we lost last month) and that just took me on a trip down memory lane.

The weather is steadily getting warmer and winter is slowly rolling into spring. We in India, celebrate this time of the year with a festival called 'Holi'. This festival marks the change of season.  If you haven't heard of the festival, I'm sure you must have seen a visual of it- people dancing, color in the air and all over their bodies. It is a festival of celebration of life and new beginnings. For some people Holi is just another day off from work. For some its an excuse to get high on bhaang. For some, it’s time with family and friends. For the farmers it means that it is time to harvest the crops they've toiled over, cursing the rain, protecting it from wild animals and waiting many, many months to see the wheat turn a golden yellow. And then, there are those farmers who are not as blessed as the others.

 

(Sourced from the internet) 

 I think Holi was one of Babz's favorite festivals. Vrindavan was definitely one of his favorite places and holi celebrated there is unlike anywhere else. Vrindavan, Mathura, Barsana and Braj are all places associated with Krishna. Babz would say that in Vrindavan you could feel the divine all around you. There are many stories in Indian mythology about why holi is celebrated, but the association of Krishna and holi is pretty interesting (and my favorite). Krishna was dark-skinned. He's depicted blue in his pictures. We call it 'Shyaam-rang' or 'the one with skin like dusk. His consort, Raadha was fair and that irked Krishna a lot. His mother playfully gave him an idea of dousing Raadha in color, so they would look the same. And that tradition continued. Holi is playful, like Krishna's nature. He was a lovable person, so he could get away with almost anything. Which is why you should not be offended by anyone or anything on holi! You douse each other in colors so bright, bringing down walls of the very things that divide us- caste, race, status and the color of your skin.

  

 

(PC: The Hindu)

Babz and I would watch the celebration in Vrindavan that they do with flowers, the Krishna-leela skits they do in Braj and the colorful riot people create in Mathura on TV back in Mumbai... both of us half wishing we were a part of the madness. And this year not having him around makes holi seem a bit empty for me, even though I haven't been enthusiastic about the 'playing' with colors part for a while. Also, I'm a thousand miles away from home and miss doing the things that were so routine. For instance, mom and dad waking us up with a fistful of color smeared all over our faces. Spending  time with mom in the kitchen helping her make gujiyas which are fried, sweet, stuffed dumplings that you just cannot eat one of. For our actual holi celebrations ever since we moved to Mumbai, Rati and I would perch ourselves on the balcony, looking at other people dancing away in the afternoon sun and seriously judging their song choices. We would later move on to our neighbors' homes for brunch and paani-puri (which may or may not have been spiked with vodka!). The late afternoons would be spent watching typical holi movies like Sholey or Mela. (Yes, I have seen Mela, multiple times. Go ahead, judge me.)

 We woke up like this.

I'll say, its not one of my favorite festivals, its still hard to not like holi. I love the freedom holi brings. I love the togetherness and yes, the color element is fun too. We say "bura naa maano, holi hai" or Don't take offence, its holi! Every person you put color on, you bring down a wall. You shed inhibitions and initiate an emotional connection. Or at least, that’s the way people should be doing it! 

So my people, with a bucketful of nostalgia, which is this post I wish all of you a very happy holi. If you're not playing with colors, you can still spread the cheer. For one day, go out of your way to make someone smile. Be someone's support. Be a positive influence. And remember, its easy to be offensive. Its harder to not take offense. Bura na maano, holi hai!

Love and light.