Random Holi thoughts ..

This year’s Holi will be remembered vividly by all Indian cricket fans … thanks to that last ball magical run out by Dhoni and India winning against Bangladesh. Am sure for many people it was thrilling and everyone felt a little sad for Bangladesh for having lost by just one run !!! But such is the game of life and such is the game of cricket.

I remember the Holi in 2011 when our US colleagues had visited India and Shakun had invited Ali and Jeff to play Holi at her house. Ali had platinum blonde hair going in and she came out with blue and pink coloured hair … and her daughter wanted to color her hair in that particular blue. Guess it took nearly a month for the color to wash off :).

I last played Holi when I was 11 years old …. when white paint got applied to my long hair and mom spent hours taking it out of my hair. That was also the Holi when I along with a few friends ended up in the officers Mess and one of Dad’s friends bought us a round of soft drinks and then acted fresh with me. He tried acting fresh several times after that and I guess that put me off Holi for good. If his son is reading this, I hope he doesn’t perpetuate the tradition and mar the celebration for some little girl.

I also am remembering an incident that was narrated to me in school and am not sure of its veracity. Apparently a trainee cadet at NDA died because as part of ragging he was made to drink coloured water on Holi. I cringe when I think of this incident and hope its not true but somewhere deep down in my heart I know if it didn’t happen in NDA it certainly has happened elsewhere and sometimes Holi brings out the unholy in us.

One can’t escape the “Rang Barse” song on Holi and if infidelity was celebrated – its symbol would be this song. A married man is wooing his ex-girlfriend who is now married to someone else and their respective spouses are in the audience. Unholy and deeply demeaning to their spouses. Its fine to have a soft corner or even love for your ex-lover but parading it in front of the one you are married to is disrespectful…. but that song is celebrated, and we regret when a little girl gyrates to “Munni Badnam hui”. Sad.

Its time to redo Holi and ensure it is celebrated for all the right reasons … remove all chemical colours, just play with natural colours (beetroot, haldi, henna, rose water, tea water, maida), and flowers, eat lots of good food and celebrate the onset of spring. Festivals have to change with the changing times to stay alive and relevant.

Didn’t want to write this yesterday when everyone was in a festive mood and I was too :). Hope it was a Happy Holi. Welcome spring with a spring in your step.