My way of Celebrating Holi

Conversing to a friend about how he celebrated holi, I realized how different our ways are to celebrate this auspicious festival. Here is my way of celebrating Holi.

Holi is among the few times of the year when most of my family comes together(all my brothers/cousins come home). It starts on the evening of ‘Holika Dehan’ with the smell of delicious ‘Poori Halwa’ cooking in the kitchen. Then after the traditional pooja and dinner, we wait for Holika to be lit up which is announced by fire crackers and drums. Most of the people of our colony assemble on the crossroad and the fire is lit up. All of this is a jolly affair some people dancing,some distributing ‘prasaad’and others going round the fire.This Great Indian Bonfire is indeed a spectacular sight.

The next day starts early. First is putting oil on our bodies so that color comes off easily later when we bath.Then, the water balloon, though cliche, is a tradition. A few hours are spent in filling water balloons which we then exhaust in a few minutes in hitting the passer-bys and a few confused monkeys from our terrace. Along with the balloons, there is also buckets of ice cold water where we literally put in ice from the freezer where we had especially put in water to freeze last night. The all of my family, extended family plays with colors. One of the marked feature of this is a water tank where everyone has to take a dip on entering the terrace.

After playing and bathing begins ‘Holi Milan’ when we visit the houses of all the people in our colony.Everyone offers something to eat(Gujiya being the most common).

This point of immutability is a welcome change from the fast moving life of the college and I always look forward to it. This is my way fo celebratring Holi. What’s yous?