Festivals

My memories of Holi are quite colourful literally.. When I was a kid about 8-10 yrs old Holi was great. It meant filling water balloons and keeping them in a bucket until it filled it with about 50 different colour and size balloons. It was a lot of hard work as many of them busted while filling, after filling and of course the hardest part knotting them up. We would then carefully then take the bucket downstairs and play Holi with colours and water. We had the pichkari or what we now call water guns and spray on each other. This fun lasted for hours and we would get so tired by the end of it. It was really messy and the colours were not always fun, I still remember some kids would use silver colour which would not get off easily and look horrendous. Also, some would use oil colours which also were hideous. Like anything else you had to choose where and whom to play with. For the most part it was safe and fun. Taking a shower and getting all the colour off was no ordinary feat. It took hours sometimes days till you really got it all off, especially out of your hair!! We would then clean up and enjoy some great food, sometimes hosted by the building societies, sometimes going out with friends/family. It was a day filled with fun. As I grew up my experiences also changed and Holi was not so much fun as a matter of fact more of a nuisance. I remember Holi would start without our consent weeks before schedule. We would be returning home from school or classes or anywhere and kids would be throwing balloons at us from everywhere. It was so irritating, unsafe and a big nuisance. I was probably in my teens and I remember it almost felt like a curfew as you could not walk safely outside of your house for weeks before and after Holi. The water balloons would come at you from high buildings and hurt you and make you wet unnecessarily. It was no fun at all !! I don't know if this was a city/suburb phenomenon but anyone living in Santacruz knows what I am talking about. Especially if you were a girl you were not spared. They even had police patrolling and this was called eve teasing. I have heard of incidences of people losing their eyesight and getting badly hurt. These kids and evidently their parents thought this was all permissible and funny....shocking now that I think about it. Maybe none of this is relevant any more and that would make me very happy. I am also aware that nowadays nobody really walks on roads as kids like we used to. Again I am unsure if we are a safer and more civilized society any more or less than we used to be.However I am talking about all classes and parts of society and feel like writing about this as I see the Holi IPL advertisement playing on T.V (har koi khelega) and I feel please give me the freedom of choice. For all those who know me, I was a fun kid and played Holi every year. However, Holi is not a free pass to indulge in bad behaviour. I can absolutely understand if someone does not want to play or has no liking for this festival. As a matter of fact, any festival or ritual that causes undue hardship to others, makes too much noise, causes traffic jams, noise pollution, environment concern is worth revisiting and revising. I am an Indian and love my heritage, culture, traditions, festivals and everything at the same time I strongly think tolerance is not only about accepting others but also about exercising restraint and showing respect for others. I am in India after 10 years and intend to play Holi with my kids and have lots of fun and that is the reason why I am sharing this with all of you. I want to create beautiful memories of my country and be truly proud of it. Have a Happy and safe Holi !! On a different note about Indian advertisements. Indian advertisements are a joke and a violation of any civil sense or respect everyday, where being fairer, taller, richer, prettier means guaranteed success and if you are bald, dark skin, short, fat or anything less than perfect means you should be ending your life soon. Also by the way don't worry about that as India has all the products to make you kids the brightest, you the prettiest, your husband the smartest so you don't need any spirituality or wisdom just products and of course gadgets to make all relationships work. Money???? u go figure as without that you will need God !! I am not saying everywhere outside of India success is not measured in material thing, money, looks or fame. However, India is supposed to be a land of spirituality and tolerance and a deeper meaning of life. In spite of which Indian shows, serials, movies and media is an anti-climax where all forms of crudeness, vulgarity, obscenity, meanness, violence is projected without any consideration and almost celebration. Just sharing...so take it easy.