Getting Holied
India is always colorful -- but it is especially so today.
Today is the festival of Holi, (pronounced like "holy") and Indians all around the country are dumping buckets of colored water on each other and smearing each other with colored powders.
My biggest challenge with photographing this event was keeping my camera out of harm's way!
My Polish readers will probably see the similarity to Smingus Dyngus, celebrated in Poland on the Monday after Easter, when people douse each other with water.
Reloading his weapon with colored powder.
The revelry brought many of my neighbors out of their apartments, including one young woman living in my building who, it turns out, is Polish! Paulina (below left, with her French husband) has been here for four months. I guess getting to know your neighbors is part of the reason for festivals such as these!
The craziness lasted until noon, when everyone headed down to the ocean to wash down.
Holi is held the day after the full moon in March or February, and marks the coming of spring and the ending of winter. Originally, the colors, called gulal, came from trees, flowers, and herbs that bloomed in the spring. Some probably had medicinal qualities. These days, unfortunately, they are more likely to be industrial dyes with an asbestos or silica base. Much has been written about the danger of such powders, but many people continue to use them.
The neighbors in my building (above), assured me they were using only harmless dyes. But that was probably not the case with the group of young revelers (below) who landed on the beach near my house, one of whom warned me not to get the fine powder on my camera because it contained silica.
Photo by Bill Steinmetz
The Indian Community in Houston celebrated this day also. By the way what
turtles were you looking for on T-Day 2004? There was an article that in
the Houston paper about Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Nest Counting day next
week. Same ones?
I love it!!!
I think I will suggest the idea for end of the year parties at school!!!!!
Happy Holi Basia. Its been ages since I visited my favourite blog. I see
you have changed the template too. Feels good to be back.
Holi is awesome and your pictures are really cool too. I spent Holi at a
farmhouse here in Delhi and had a GREAT time. I still have pink hair today.
Took lots of pictures like you, but since I am months behind on my weblog
it'll probably get on some time in late April.
Donna: It was the Olive Ridley turtles that we were looking for on
T-day. They're a close relative of Kemp's Ridley. Both are endangered
species I think.
I just spent hours in your blog, looking through the pictures and reading
the write-ups and getting quite nostalgic about my homeland. I'm born
Indian, but now live in Canada. So, have lost touch with a lot. Your holi
pictures touched an especially deep current. Thanks.