My co-worker Groom has been responsible for many of my cool India experiences: his wedding, the cricket, and now, Holi!
After work on Tuesday (which was technically Little Holi, the day before), we gathered together off the side of the road near the office. We had to bring everything with us because we would not be able to return to work after “playing Holi.”
Dear All,
Playing Holi, in any form, inside the office/ building premises is strictly prohibited.
Strict action would be taken if someone found violating/ soiling the premises.
The above was an email I received.
Can’t imagine why…
Holi is one of the biggest holidays in India, especially for the majority Hindu population. It is the spring festival of color. The first time I saw photos and videos of Holi online, I couldn’t believe this holiday existed. It’s crazy! But, for our little celebration, quite a lot of fun!
They said since it was my first time, I should wear white so I could see the colors better. (They also said to wear “old clothes” but we obviously didn’t pack those in our suitcase, so I actually purchased a white outfit for about $6 at the less expensive store connected to the supermarket. ) We gathered and drove to a spot nearby. Someone brought powdered colors. Some of the colors were mixed with water. They even said “leave your camera in the car… you never know what will happen on Holi” so the photos were taken after the fact.
Becoming Holi
We definitely let our inner children come out; maybe that is why it is called “playing”. Children are known to carry squirt guns filled with colored water, in fact, and from what I can see, this is a holiday very popular with kids. Bottles of color were poured – including my Holi baptism of blue water right over the top of my head – and powdered color rubbed on my face. (No bhang was involved, though… that would be the adult part of the celebration, I’m guessing.)
Holi Body Parts
In the emailed invitation that my co-worker sent, there was the phrase “Bura na mano, holi hai!” I asked what it meant:
The idea of someone throwing colors “without your consent” is fascinating and I think also why our co-workers advised caution on the streets if we decided to play out in the city the next day. With our little group, though, it was relatively safe, crazy fun.
Holi: Where you are the Easter Egg
Holi Group Photo
You can tell they went easy on me… no roughhousing on the foreign girl; you can actually still see individual colors! It didn’t feel that way at the time, though, I assure you
After our hands had dried, we took a lot of photos. Then we all ate samosas and snacks, carefully. There was also the occasional squirting bubbly soda involved in the Holi mess. We let our taxi off the hook and one of our co-workers, after covering the entire back seat with a car cover (and the driver’s seat with newspapers) drove us home. I would have felt sillier walking in the hotel (I think we amused the staff somewhat), but we saw people everywhere going by, full of color.
Holi Souvenir