Holi Nostalgia
Holi may be more of ‘farm-house parties’ and ‘getting-high-on-bhang’ scene now, but the innocence of celebrating the festival, back when we were kids is what I truly miss!! How I wish I could go back in time and play Holi just like I did as a little girl!
Come March and one could literally smell the festivity in the air. Shops sprawled out on the streets packed with colours, water balloons, and of course, those fancy pichkaris. Piles of gulaal in myriad hues, being sold in every nook and corner of the neighbourhood! Holi was never a one-day affair. Celebrations started almost a month in advance and the whole locality lived under the delightful terror of being attacked by the monstrous kids, hiding behind parapets and staircases, armed with pichkaris and water balloons!
Old clothes were especially preserved to be shown the light or actually the colours on Holi. Plans were made a night before. Those with terraces had the best Holi strategy ever. Come morning and countless water balloons were filled and meticulously stocked in tubs and buckets. Every defective balloon brought a huge frown and trust me, there were plenty of them!
Armed with a massive pichkari (in proportion to my size) and pails of coloured water, I would patiently wait in one of the corners of my terrace for an appropriate target to pass by and on seeing one, would very strategically take an aim. Nine out of ten times I would miss so my joy knew no bounds if, by luck, I would succeed in drenching even one or besmirching someone’s pristine attire with a melange of crimson and green! haha
In fact, the amount of fun we had on Holi was directly proportional to the amount of colour on our skin and nails the next day in school. Wherever one looked, one would find blue and purple-eared monsters with ghostly green fingers! The madness continued even post Holi. Many of us saved our balloons and in the days to come, missed no opportunity to aim at passers-by who were taken by surprise at being subjected to burst of balloons, post-Holi! Of course, we would instantly duck behind the parapets for fear of being caught and scolded but that was the FUN.
Gone are those carefree, colourful days, and whatever little was left of it, has been washed off by Covid.
This year’s Holi is quite a quiet affair with family smearing each other’s forehead with customary gulaal tilak, partaking ghujiyas and thereafter each retiring to each’s room; while me tapping away my nostalgia on these keys and taking a sip or two of ‘bhaang-waali-thandaai’, prepared secretly by my staff for themselves.
Post this, it’ll be the usual phone calls to friends and relatives and wishing the remaining rest through what’s app messages.
Is this what the most joyous and fun-filled festival been reduced to — a few phone calls, some stickers or gifs, and countless messages, or does Holi still holds its age-old charm for many of us?
Please share your views in the comments below.
As for me? Well the pinks, the yellows, the greens on my face (self smeared), on my fingers, on my keyboard, says it all…
