Holi festival - Blogabond

3/20/08
Sanpshot: Holi Smoke!

The Hindu holiday Holi is this weekend. It’s the second biggest (if your interested the first is Dewalli) holiday in India and celebrates the coming of Spring (the mean Spring taken with a grain of salt since it could more accurately mean the coming of blinding-heat season). A encyclopedia will tell that Holi celebrated with the throwing of powdered colors in the street. But I can tell you now that, in addition this one day celebration, Holi shares with Christmas a season. Everyone takes off work for several days and goes home to their family and friends. The week before is an upbeat with preparation for big day.
At Gagari there is one peculiar custom we learned about. Before Holi the people here collect panfulls of cow dung, mix it with sand, and redo their floors made of the stuff. Today, having already collected the shit, we will be able to witness the smearing of the stuff onto the hardened shit below.

sita smears cow poo on her patio

Last night was another festivity in which we felt more inclined to partake. A special dinner was given: we got the more expensive vegetable of peas along with potato and cabbage, yoghurt curry, and store-bought mithai (a milk and honey based sweet) instead of the homemade molasses bits. Afterward, our GRAVIS fieldworkers gathered in the community room with a zylophone-keyboard, baby-cymbols, and a drum. As the power came on and off they played Indian tunes sang, and watched as the little girl Puja, age five, outdanced in the circle.

While I copiously avoided dancing too much, the whole night was definitely improved by the presence of Prem, another blessing of Holi- his mom Shanti lives here. I had also got the pleasure of hitting balls cricket style, bowled by him. When one hit threw it over the fence, he simply leaped over it to fetch, grinning that darling grin. On that score Rao also astonished with his acrobatics by climbing a wall using a tiny water pipe to fetch the ball that went onto the roof.

written by

Drie on March 20, 2008 from Jodhpur, India

from the travel blog: Adventures in Hindustan

Send a Compliment

Your post are a total joy to read-as literature even-almost. Please read aloud before posting; catch those missed words or misspellings.

Dad

How can we donwload this stuff for your permanent trip diary?

written by Dad on March 22, 2008

I love your new set of photos.. and they even have explanations. Super. Your village is actually kind of cute. And I think it actually offers an interesting experience. I just wish they had more for you to do, so you could feel worthwhile as well. Glad to hear that you can comprehend some of the Hindi.

written by Mom on March 22, 2008

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