Happy Holi!

Like the picture?  Yes, that's what I looked like yesterday after playing with colors for Holi, a Hindu festival for spring.  This particular festival celebrates the destruction of a horrible demon.  As it is religious, the first step in playing with colors was for our friend Shreya to offer colors to the gods.  However, I'll admit that the religious part was not my particular focus.  I played to have fun with one of the most visually exciting festivals that I am aware of.

Apparently, it can be dangerous to travel on Holi because people celebrate on the streets and put less-washable colors on unwilling victims.  To avoid this, my friend Bekkah and I slept over with Shreya, a friend from St. Xavier's College.  After a delicious, home-cooked breakfast, we donned destroyable clothes and began the process of playing Holi.  To be honest, I was a bit worried about the activity.  People warned that only the dry colors would come off easily.  Wet colors would stain skin for a few days, and none of my black-haired Indian friends knew what the colors would do to light brown hair.  After a couple minutes of blessings with dry colors inside the flat, we went outside to play with wet colors on the lawn of the housing complex.  Before long, everyone was unrecognizable.  Children squirted colors with special sprayers, and Shreya's friends filled buckets to dump on heads.  It was completely chaotic and fun!  We returned to the flat for pictures (no safe place for cameras with all the activity) looking unrecognizable but incredibly happy.

After showers to wash off some of the colors, lunch, and a nap, Shreya's family convinced Bekkah and me to stay for another night of fun.  We went outside to meet her friends after knowing them only as the people dumping color on us.  While outside, the group watched a bonfire to burn the evils of the past year and watched the moon from the observatory.  Then we went back inside for great conversation and more.  I had another great time!

Bekkah and I returned home this morning.  We are exhausted and still a bit colorful, but the experience was well worth it.  My first Holi was a blast!