SANTA CLARA Calif. (Diya TV) Smear me with Pink and Orange, douse me in Blue in Green! Ahhh… All that I can imagine right now is having all these colors on me! The season of Spring blooms is here and “Holi” is the way millions celebrate the joy and cheer of this festival of colors. Holi is an an ancient festival of India and was originally known as ‘Holika’. Holi is celebrated with great joy and gaiety on the full moon day in the month of Phalgun (generally in the month of March).
The festival across India is celebrated with different names, traditions. But, what makes Holi so unique and special is the spirit of it which remains the same throughout the country and even across the globe. Holi is a very lively festival celebrating the arrival of spring. It marks the season of hope and joy with the bright summer days. Fields get filled with crops promising a good harvest to the farmers and flowers bloom coloring the surroundings and filling fragrance in the air.
In different parts of the country, communities get together for large bonfires, families, friends and neighbors gather together around this symbolic fire and pour rice, coconuts and other offerings to pray and ward off any evil spirits. Every household prepares a special festive meal along with festive dishes and ambrosia to be offered to the holy fire. Puranpoli is a main delicacy in Mumbai, a stuffed sweet bread smothered with clarified butter that is a kid-favorite. The little ones come home after playing holi and chanting ‘Holi re Holi puranachi poli’.
Holi is celebrated very uniquely in India, everyone wears a festive look (mostly seen in their white dresses). Market places get all buzzed up with activity as the shoppers start making preparations for the festival. Giant heaps of various hues of Gulaal (dyed pink corn starch) can be seen on the roadside few days before the festival. Pichkaris (commonly known as water guns), where every year they come up with different designs in the market attracting the children and obviously to get everybody drenched in color.
Speaking of pichkaris, Deepika Padukone’s ‘Balam Pichkari‘, from the movie ‘Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani’ is the modern day Bollywood representation of Holi and for you classic movie lovers, let’s not forget the scandalous ‘Rang Barse‘ from the film ‘Silsila’ starring Amitabh Bachchan & Shashi Kapoor, Rakhi and Rekha
California is not the only place dealing with a drought, this year India is facing some serious water shortage which has spurred off into social media campaign by nature activists and celebs urging folks to be mindful and conserve water. The impact of the drought goes beyond just the water shortage. Hydro power plants are a staple source of electricity in India, the droughts continue to have a long-tail with power cuts in addition to the water scarcity. The affected areas are among the metropolitan cities especially in the Southern states. Some state governments event went so far as to prohibit misuse of water in celebrating this festival.
Taking to Twitter Mumbai Police urged the people saying.. “Water = Life, No Water = No Life, Life or Holi”
Dry Holi is better than dry taps. #बुरानाबनोहोलीहै #WorldWaterDay pic.twitter.com/QNwbnlEjFs
— मुंबई पोलीस – Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) March 22, 2016
Despite all these severe weather changes, people in India are taking socially aware of the water problems and are using this an opportunity to teach and keeping a positive outlook and celebrating the festival without any water baloons or pichakaris…its a symbolic way to celebrate with just dry colors and keep the tradition alive with ‘dry holi’
