HOLI!!!

I first heard about Holi when I traveled to India eight years ago. I heard that "anything goes" and some of my friends wanted me to send to alcohol from the States for Holi. (Devout Hindus do not drink alcohol and in Varanasi, at that time, you had to go to expensive hotels to buy any). Thoughts of color had me putting Holi on my "goals in life" list. Since then, seeing Bollywood films and reading about Holi, I had a picture of complete chaos. This past week I kept hearing about "Holi gone bad" stories. From skin being dyed colors for weeks, to eyes being burned from toxic dyes, to crotch groping...I was worried something would happen and all my fun would be spoiled.

Holi is actually a two day festival that celebrates the devout Hindu prince, who refuses to worship his father over Vishnu, one of the gods. His aunt (Holika), who is fire resistant, is enlisted to kill her nephew by pulling him into a fire, ends up burning because Vishnu saves the boy and takes her power away. So, on the full moon during March, all over, this is enacted large bundles of logs and fronds being burned. Next to us, the apartment compound had a 15 foot tall pile they burned. When the fire raged, people would circle the fire, dropping water as they went. As this happened, excited children pounded them with plastic bags filled with water. This was expected and there was a lot of laughter. Greg and I huddled against the building to be out of the line of fire and watched the spectacle.

The next morning, we headed over to our friends', Reid and Rachel, flat for brunch and then headed off with our expendable clothes, olive oil rubbed on skin and hair so the dye would not stain, and water guns ready to go. We rode our bike to the brunch and I was fully prepared for a colorful assault. to my disappointment, the streets were quiet and peaceful. We were more of the spectacle being white people on our bikes with water guns in our baskets. It was amazing to ride down such empty streets, so much so that I rode right past Reid and Rachel's place.

After brunch, we made it to the outside of the building and neighbors were starting their own Holi celebration. We joined them, playing with the kids, throwing powder, shooting water everywhere and eating sweets washed down with a Kingfisher that the neighbors insisted we share with them. After refilling our water guns, we set out to roam Bandra. Our first encounter were a gang of other expats. One of them got Greg pretty good, right in the face. Leave it to the expats to be the most violent group out there. We had a rickshaw drive by done by another ASB staff member, but we made sure she didn't get away without a good soaking. A family of Indians was in a car, stopped, and we all smeared each other's faces with a "Happy Holi!" This ended up being the most common encounter, though most people were on foot. We ended up down at the sea in the fishing village. They invited us down some narrow walk ways and we joined a family dancing, dumping buckets overhead, and singing. I was impressed when a very intoxicated fellow came into the little courtyard and he was immediately turned the other way respectfully. We made it down to the beach area, after a full color and water battle with a group of kids. They were ready for an ambush, positioned on roofs, behind walls and on stairs. When we had to walk back through them, both Greg and I were also egged. Greg's hair was amazingly shiny today due to the extra nutrients he received on his head.

Overall, I was pretty amazed by the manners of everyone, there was no groping and I felt very safe. I would not go out by myself or without a male, but I had nothing to worry about. Next year we'll start earlier so we can have even more colorful battles. This is the one time that Indians are up early to celebrate...then many are in an inebriated slumber by 2pm.

HAPPY HOLI!!!!