Holy Holi

Two weeks ago was the annual Holi celebration here in India. I'm not actually sure if there is any religious connotation to Holi, but this being India there probably is something that neither I nor many people can give a clear picture on. I've simply been told that Holi is the festival of colors; similar to Diwali which is the festival of lights. Rather than shooting off fireworks, or "crackers" as people call them here, everyone runs around the streets launching handfuls of vibrant colored powder at each other. This has slowly evolved in to water guns wars using paint for ammo as well as the launching of "paint" balloons of balconies at unsuspecting strangers wandering the streets. The whole idea is to cover each other in various different colors, which in turn sprinkles the city in a full range of hues.

Some Holi colors

In fact, the festival can get quite rowdy and many work colleagues suggested not to go out for very long as some people attack you with permanent paint that can stain your skin and ruin your hair. I certainly took this with a grain of salt as many times I find people over react here, and heard from many foreign friends that it can be a great experience overall.

On the day of reckoning I planned to meet a friend and start roaming the streets of Bandra and maybe even venture bravely to the local strip of beach, Juhu beach, where hoards of local Indians walk around. Juhu beach would typically be the last place I'd ever go both because the crowds can be insufferable, the water and sand filthy, but also because Indians have no concept of relaxing. They all stay standing and constantly move around rather than claim some beach space to lounge on. Also, everyone is fully clothed, even those brave enough to venture into the ocean (as many people don't know how to swim) keep their clothes on. However, on Holi this sounded like an ideal time to experiment with the unique Indian attitude on the beach.


I decked myself out in a fully white outfit with the full expectation of becoming Jackson Pollack's next masterpiece. The end result may not have been far off, but it took a whole day to get there. After my friend and I strolled around Bandra in the morning with little success engaging some local rabble rousers in a paint war, we eventually mustered up the courage to hit Juhu beach. Well within about 30 min of roaming around the crowds, and being one of the few white faces in sight, a couple brave kids launched some paint filled balloons are way. We were splattered with a bright blue, and allowed the kids to chase us for a few minutes which probably made their day.

Painting at Juhu

Preparing some onions for Pav Bhaji (local snack)

Preparing the Pav Bhaji

Family shot

Future couple

More crowds

Kids horsing around

Ready to storm the beach

After clearly being marked an eligible target, I was then immediately blind sided by a little girl who ran up behind me and unsuspectingly rubbed her bright pink hands all over my face. In fact, I was smiling for a picture at the time, which resulted in my teeth and lips being completely pink. Not a good taste, but certainly enjoyable for her as she quickly giggled and ran off.

After being attacked and getting the paint off my teeth

Getting ready to cause some trouble

That really kicked everything off, and luckily my friend and I already purchased several bags full of colorful powder. We surprisingly ran in to a couple other foreigners we knew, and doused each other with whatever handful of color we could get our hands on. Of course the local onlookers found this hilarious, but it was reassuring to see that they were also covered in different colors. In fact, all ages were engaging in the festival and many groups or families walked around in single bright colors that I imagine they attacked each other with earlier. There would be a group of small boys painted in bright green and pink, and then a middle age couple and their kids in yellow and orange. The festival of colors simply painted over any discriminatory factors that one normally sees everyday here. I mean, I was at Juhu beach; unheard of. Little street kids were running up trying to throw paint on me, when normally they would be intimidated by my presence.

Marital dispute (?)

I think she won

Everyone gets involved

It was only midday when we started leaving the beach, but I felt my bodily portrait was nearing completion. I of course would be dead wrong.

The next event we went to was a outdoor Holi party back in Bandra. This is where the real festival kicked off as some local, neuvo rich businessman decided to throw a big bash compliments of live music and huge outdoor space. When I arrived everything was fully underway and I looked like a sorry, pale specimen to everyone that was covered in water from the sprinklers and colorful powder being thrown everywhere. I met up with several other friends here who ritually welcomed me by dousing every inch of white, including the bare spots on my face, in any color they could get their hands on. Did I mention that the booze was free? So you can only imagine what took off from here.

The party wound down by early evening, which was probably a good thing. A few stronger souls, me included, tried to keep everything moving by hitting up the very local bar. We were welcomed with open arms being fully painted, but the energy level started to really sag after spending hours in the sun acting like a toddler with a handful of crayons and the blank canvas of the white living room wall in front of him.

I will assuredly say that Holi has been the most memorable and enjoyable festival I've experienced in India. When else do you get free reign to be reckless without constraint? It's not reckless in an unsavory way, but simply enjoyable to throw paint everywhere with little concern as everything washes away. In fact, I think this helps to relieve much of the stress that people can quickly build up living in such populated and overwhelming places. That was certainly the case for me.

Holi is complete