‘Tapke Masti…’
A colorful festival of liberating joyousness, bonding families, friends and the entire neighborhood with boundless fun, laughter and plenty of good food; It is impossible to be indifferent to the spirit of Holi in India.
As a child, I used to be petrified watching the elders of the family go to loony heights during Holi. However, the uninhabited, child-like exuberance associated with the festival is like an addiction and it tends to grow on you.
There used to be a lot of preparations involved, the night before Holi. After the burning of ‘Holika,’ we used to get busy with assembling packets of gulaals, filling ‘balloon golas’ with colored water, helping in making yummy ‘Shakkar Pare,’ ‘Namak Pare’ and ‘Lavang Latikas.’ It used to be a night of sheer excitement, making strategies to outrival the guerilla tactics of my friends, evading the ‘balloon golas’ and the onslaught of the mini ‘water cannons.’
For the next few days after Holi, we used to flaunt our color-stained hands and faces like branded accessories! The benchmark was the visibility and durability of the colors! Yes, I know what you are thinking, I certainly belong to a generation way before ‘Herbal colors’ gained commercial popularity! 🙄
Thanks to the Great Pandemic, this is going to be the second consecutive year that, we are going to miss Holi! Every year, the festival of colors is celebrated in India on the full moon day of the Spring Equinox. Once again, we are going to miss the mass euphoria of boisterous merriment along with vibrant colors of ‘Gulaal, (colorful powders) sweets, music, dance and the traditional ‘Thandai.’
I am deliberately avoiding an elaborate account of the traditions and rituals associated with Holi. The internet is flooded with every intricate detail of the festival and then there is Bollywood! Each year the Hindi Film Industry takes up the responsibility of delivering at least two to three Holi songs choreographed in the movies as a part of the literacy drive to educate the world and setting trends for Holi celebrations. It is one of the many social commitments of Bollywood! 😜We eagerly wait for those numbers, to do full justice under the ‘Rain Dance,’ which turns out to be the most happening addition of the 21st century Holi celebration!😎
‘Mind Na Kariyo Holi Hai!’
Holi is a festival of the people and where there are people, there is food! However, the best part of Holi is that there is food before, after and while playing Holi! Pakoras, kachoris, chaats, kanji vades, mathiyas, jalebis, bhang ke laddoos, barfis, gujiyas, Malpuas, Puran polis and of course Thandai; Our native energy drink!
2006 was the first time, I celebrated Holi with special local ‘Thandai’ in Renukoot, a small town near Varanasi; the Thandai Hub of India. The nutty, sweet, milk-based drink, laced with aromatic spices is the perfect cooler to fight dehydration while playing Holi under the scorching sun. I remember giggling throughout the celebration and tackling the tantrums of my one-and-a-half-year-old toddler-terminator like a super-mom! The power of just one glass of ‘Bhang-Thandai!’ My adventurous neighbor made almost six short trips from his bungalow to the local sweet shop, a distance of almost half a kilometer; without any success. Each time he forgot why he went to the shop once he got there. The power of four glasses of the ‘Thandai!’😅 He would have continued in his quest but Mrs. Rai was exceptionally adept in her wifely duties; she was ready with a few buckets of water and somehow convinced a very drenched Mr. Rai to sober down and finally retrieve quietly to the fortified confines of their house. That has been my one and only adventure with ‘Bhang’ to date.😇 I still make ‘Thandai’ at home for Holi. Rose Thandai is one of my favorites.
The ‘Kanji;’ is another popular drink of Holi. I’ve tasted several variations of the salty, zingy fermented drink in Delhi, Rajasthan and Gujarat. However, my favorite is the Punjabi Kanji drink. It is made with seasonal red carrots, beet and mustard seeds. Kanji is known for its probiotic properties, remarkable for digestion and very effective as a detox for the liver.
Unlike the general understanding, Holi is not a complete veg-affair throughout India. In the Rajput households of UP and Bihar, ‘Khade Masale Gosht ‘and ‘puris’ are a part of the Holi-lunch. I grew up eating a feast of Pulao and ‘Kosha Mangsho,’ (spicy, semi-dry goat meat curry) a Bengali tradition I happily continue to follow every year!😃
‘Holi Re Holi…’
There are numerous restrictions in several parts of India, like the rest of the world once again, due to the recent COVID-surge. Sadly, we have to wait for the colors of Holi for another year. However, the spirit of the festival will be alive with the ‘Holika Dahan’ on the 28th of March this year and of course Food! Hope the purifying Fire of the ‘Holika’ helps to Heal the World and win the battle against the raging Pandemic. Wish you all a Very Happy and Safe Holi!😇
