holi hai!

i'm back at my hotel after 24 hours of celebrating holi craziness!

even though i'd seen pictures and movie depictions, i think i still did not realize exactly what it would be like. the office party was pretty tame compared to real holi. we used mostly dry colors (some colored, perfumed powder most likely full of chemicals and toxins), though there were a few buckets of colored water that the men threw mostly on each other. the traditional way to wishing someone happy holi is to put a bit of powder on the forehead and the cheeks, then hug. it was actually kinda sweet seeing everyone in the office hug each other (don't worry, gender lines were not crossed on the hugging). most people did go beyond just the forehead and cheek smudge and put a lot more powder on the other person's face. we played a couple of games - a sort of tag and then musical chairs. and yes... i did have a couple of beers! there was one girl who told me it was ok. i felt like i got the eye from a few other people, but i decided i didn't care. here's a pic of me with the ladies from the office
after the end of the office party, my colleauge kapil took me to his family home in a nearby city, ghaziabad, to celebrate the local way. i got to meet his entire family and get a tour of his house. we then went out to a couple of neighborhood bonfires. the fires burn mostly malt, surrounding a wood teepee sort of thing. the men of the neighborhood offer up their prayers and offerings to God, putting things into the fire. we then took some of the embers back to the home, where a smaller fire was built with dung cakes. (it wasn't smelly.) the women then offered their prayers for a good summer growth. we all wished each other "happy holi" and gave some more colors. we then had a delicious dinner - which was another indian experience. the women first serve the men (and guests - me), and then the men serve the women afterwards. kapil said sometimes the men would serve the women first, but they generally do not eat together.

kapil and his wife so graciously offered me their room and bathroom. i've been told that it's a hindu tradition to treat guests as "God", and i can say that the saxena family treated me wonderfully! kapil's mother and wife gave me bangles and anklets. the family gave me a tiffin box that i had eyed at a nearby store. the food they served was delicious (even if i got so stuffed i could barely eat each item)! the only disappointment was that kapil said monkeys like to play on his porch swing, but i didn't get to see one. ha ha

the next day, we watched a bit of the new zealand-india cricket match (a game i'll never understand, nor do i want to). we then headed out to celebrate holi with the neighborhood. first several of kapil's father's friends stopped by to wish us happy holi. the older men giggled like little boys when the gender lines were crossed and we hugged. i still cannot figure out if they only initiated that because of my foreigner status. after getting initiated with color at the house, we headed to the park. there were many people throwing color, dancing to the punjabi drums, eating fried snacks, drinking thandai (sadly no bhang). kapil's father was afraid no one would initiate holi with me unless i started it, but he needn't have had this concern. i swear, i had a target on my white face (which was quickly turning colored). water guns full of colored water were aimed frequently in my direction, buckets of water dumped on my head, mud mixed with color and color powders covering my face frequently. don't worry - this was happening to everyone else as well (even if a bit more frequently to me and to teenagers). the women forced me to dance to the punjabi drums a couple of times - that was interesting (and thankfully i have no photos of that). we then went to visit all of the family and family friends in the surrounding neighborhoods to wish them happy holi. more colors, more snacks and lots of "happy holi" wishes ensued. i saw several groups of boys in motorcycles riding around getting buckets of colored water thrown at them. i also saw several shirtless boys jump on another boy and literally rip his shirts off of him. too bad i wasn't fast enough with the camera to catch that! after many visits and snacks, we ended up back at kapil's home.

despite the almond oil i had applied to my hair and moisturizer to my face, the color was pretty hard to remove. i went through several washes and scrubs with soap and a flour/coconut oil mixture. my hair still has a hint of pink, and a bit of color can still be seen on my face, arms and chest. i don't know if it's because i'm not used to the colors or because of my fair skin, but this stuff sticks! the photos that i took really to not even do it justice - it's like my camera could not handle all of the color. despite a fair bit of craziness, the experience was unforgettable.