Finally a 'HOLI'day!!!!

                                    First of all 'Holi kee bahut bahut badhaai' to all the readers and non-readers of this article alike. India has got lots of festivals that its people celebrate and Holi holds a special place altogether. Its all about excitement and enthusiasm. Its about assembling friends, relatives, old and young ones, neighbors and forming a large group. Its about shouting and screaming slogans like 'Holi Hai!!!' , 'Bura na mano Holi hai' etc to ignite the same enthusiasm in others and calling them to play holi. Its about pulling some non interested people out of their hideouts to play.  Its about fun and enjoyment involved in applying colors on each others. Some mischievs, some pranks.  Its about dancing on the Holi folk songs.  Its about celebrating a day forgetting everything else in the world. Its about igniting a thought in our minds that howsoever bad or sad life may be, it can still be made colorful with a little fun and celebration. Its about extending this 'Little fun and celebration' to as long as possible. Its about taking a looooooong bath struggling to get the color off the skin. Its about enjoying that traditional food stuff prepared every Holi. After all this in the end its about getting all tired and sleeping like a log. :)
                                     Writing all these has made me go years back in the memory lanes. It was a time when we kids would start enjoying Holi as early as a month before the actual day of Holi. We would fill balloons with water and throw it on pedestrians, splash water on them from the balcony and so much more. Playing with water was the ultimate fun. It did bring in a lot of scoldings from elders of getting cough, cold, slipping and getting hurt by water spilled all around the house etc etc . Holi always came somewhere around final exams but who cared. :)
                                      After a long time I did get a chance to celebrate Holi in the same place, the memories of which I mentioned above. But they say 'nothing stays permanent' and I felt this once again. Things have changed drastically. Its no more a festival where the kids would start celebrating Holi a month before. In fact my locality was lacking enthusiasm even a mere 3 days before. I got sad but somewhere within I knew the answer to this change. Avoiding water wastage. Avoiding water pollution. Avoiding applying toxic colors and preventing skin and eye irritation/diseases etc. This made me feel good that a lot of people, unlike earlier days, indeed care for themselves and their planet alike.
                                      I was not in a mood to celebrate and enjoy at all. When I got up in the morning, I was trying to remember the last time I played with colors, where and with whom. Suddenly I got an invitation for holi celebration on a phone call. I was perplexed. Sometimes it takes immense strength and courage just to have fun. A situation same when a person A is asked to face B where A has very well learnt to live without B, happy with the older lot of memories and no intention to pile up more. While I was struggling to decide, my father approached. He shared his story of holi celebrations from long back. This made me think lets become a kid again. Whats the harm in playing. Why shouldn I play. Infact if I wont celebrate Holi, the whole foundation idea of this festival would go in vain. Knowing about the drought in Maharashtra and Gujarat I decided not to misuse water availability in my place, to play a DRY HOLI and the rest you can see in the pic. :) HAPPY HOLI!!!!!!! :)