Over the weekend we celebrated our favourite Indian festival, Holi, the Festival of Colours. A couple of days early but you do what you have to do with work and school in the mix. The Coronavirus (Covid19) was looking like it would put a spanner in the works, with the gated community we live in cancelling all 'mass gatherings' and, therefore, Holi was cancelled. We were so upset about not having the option to celebrate one more time before we leave, that I decided that if we really wanted to celebrate, then we would make it happen.
There is an open space (cannot really call it a park, just open land) behind Max's cricket club - about 1km from our home that doesn't appear to be owned privately and is basically used by locals for their 'daily business', oh and the odd game of cricket. I walk by it regularly and often see a game of cricket going on, so thought it would be ideal as a flat space for us to run around. A community WhatsApp group was created to organise the finer details of the afternoon and a group of us (not a mass gathering……) wandered up there on Sunday afternoon to celebrate. As expected, a local cricket game was underway which was quickly put on hold so that the guys could all watch us, laugh and take photos of us all throwing colour on each other. I am sure we have made their week !
Holi is celebrated to mark the start of spring, as well as the triumph of good over evil. Even though it is not that cold in the winter in Bangalore and the delineation between the seasons is not as clear, Holi is still celebrated in the south but it is definitely more prolific in the north of India.
The colours used throughout Holi have become more 'organic' and 'environmentally friendly over the last few years. However there is always bags that you manage to collect that are SUPER SUPER bright and definitely NOT organic. Supposedly still non-toxic though…… This year we had a couple of bags of purple, blue and green that really really stained the skin. Unfortunately for 3 of the dads, including Mike, they got attacked by the boys and for a couple of hours late on Sunday night, it looked like they would be heading to work with some very colourful additions ……. Smurf and Shrek inspired.
We were all quite the site walking back through the local village afterwards on our way home. The locals thought it was brilliant wanting to have selfies and enjoying the fun with us !!
Happy Holi everyone - it really is the best Indian celebration !!
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| This was the local 'field' that we decided to desecrate with colours ! |
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| First touch of colour |
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| He thought he was just having a photo but……. |
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| nope, Mum was too quick and got him good ! |
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| 'The Nairns' do Holi……. 2020 |
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| Shane and Mike really did get in to the spirit of things |
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| First Holi for the Fogarty's |
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| Mike and Dan before the teens came back and got them ! |
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| Those colours !!! |
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| The boys looking sharp |
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| Wow, will Stella's hair ever be the same again ? |
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| Lia with a sneaky hug with a handful of yellow powder in my ear ! |
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| The Hughes family in all their splendour |
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| what a fabulous group to celebrate with from Windmills |
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| The walk home brought a lot of attention from the locals |
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| A tuk-tuk with everything - even the kitchen sink |
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