Happy Holi!

Happy Holi
Happy Holi
Happy Holi by Rekha Mittal Gupta
Happy Holi
Happy Holi

ooo rang barse bheege chunar wali, rang barse”

The iconic song, jaan of ever Holi or pre Holi bash, featuring the evergreen Rekha and shehansha Amitabh Bachchan is played at maximum volume without any competition to date.

The hootings, screams, wah wahi this song musters shout out the craze for this song among people.

Holi has now become synonym for this song. So many songs have been written but none can ever beat this one.

Agreed??

Let’s move on then

Holi is the festival where hatred is burnt and love is ignited. A festival of colours fills everyone’s heart with enthusiasm, exuberance and glee.

Here I would like to narrate a holi special anecdote.

When my first crush made entry to the school, my dil went dhak dhak for him. The feeling was mutual. Our infatuation blossomed on our school premises. School life never seemed so wonderful before.

After officially declaring ourselves a couple, our first festival was the festival of love – holi. The day is still so fresh in my memories. He did something totally unbelievable, but that made my festival actually a festival of colours and love.

I was enjoying the festivities with my friends within my colony premises. He came with a friend of his on a scooter and parked it near the main gate of the colony. Then, he entered the premises.

To date, I wonder how he recognised me from amongst so many girls. I just remember, he held my hand, turned me around, applied holi colours on my face and gently whispered in my ears, “HAPPY HOLI, MY LOVE”

He took a water balloon from a child nearby, hit me and went away. I stood there startled, mesmerised, motionless and lost. Neither I coloured him with gulal nor I wished him. I was dumbstruck. Thankfully, nobody from my family saw this turn of events. My friends pestered me a lot later, but that never mattered.

But, that was just puppy love. As time flew by, we parted ways and focused on our careers and later got married to different people.

Coming back to holi celebrations:

The splashing of water-filled balloons🎈from unknown heights and by mischievous kids as we make our way out from the confines of our protective four walls declares that Holi is around the corner. The moment we open our mouths to voice our wrath, there’s a loud uproar
“BURA NA MAANO HOLI HAI”
We are forcibly muted.

Holi is the festival of colours, romantic songs, love and friendships. I fear as well as love this festival. Confused??
Fear, because of the adamant colours which deny to leave our skin and leave allergies.

Love, because I love to sing and dance to the beats of dhol – all drenched in colourful water. The world seems to be dancing in the rain of happiness.

In temples, the holi celebration starts some 4-5 days before the holi. Once, I went to attend such a holi celebration with my mother-in-law and son.

There, holi was played with flowers ðŸ’ and everyone danced💃 to the bhajans played by the priests. Trust me, friends, the entire atmosphere was so mesmerising as if Lord Krishna has himself stepped down to celebrate the festival with us. All hearts were overflowing with joy and exuberance. From then onwards, our first choice to play the festival was with flowers.

But, kids are kids. Undoubtedly, my son enjoyed a lot in the temple playing holi with flowers, he still wanted colours for the special day.

Mom, holi without colours?? Are you kidding me?”

I was apprehensive of the chemical-filled colours. No doubt, there are organic colours available in the market these days, but I still prefer homemade colours. Yes, friends, we can make holi colours at home.

Let me share my style of making colours-

Take cornflour or maida, and mix turmeric powder or yellow food colour with the help of water. When it becomes a paste of thin consistency, let it dry in sun for 4-5 hours. Thereafter, when it solidifies, crush it with a fork or spoon and mash it with fingers to form yellow powdered gulal. In the same way, you can make gulal of different colours using cornflour, food colour and water.

Isn’t it simple, safe and wow??

At my home, Holi preparations start quite early. For us, it is a week-long festival. We make mathri, kaanji, bhalle papri, churma and gujiya. Without these delicacies, Holi is not Holi. My favourite delicacy is gujiya.

Happy Holi to all of you.. have a safe and enjoyable Holi!

-Rekha Mittal Gupta

About The Author

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Shopping Cart
Scroll to Top