Holi is the festival of colours to mark the end of the drab, grey and pale colours of the Autumn and winter, when the trees shed all leaves and stand barren and the beginning of the green new shoots of leaves and then the blossoming of the bright coloured flowers by trees. Playing colours on Holi is the psychological urge of the people to mimic the flowering trees on the girls and women by applying bright colored powders and waters on them to make them look more beautiful.
People should appreciate the colourful beautiful look after applying the colours. But people laugh after applying the colours, as if they have succeeded in de-facing the girls and women, making them feel uncomfortable. We tend to mis-do anything whose intention is basically good. Mis-doing, sometimes turns mischievous also.
It is a joyous festival celebrating natures' blossoming beauty unlike other festivals such as Ganesh Pooja , Durga Pooja etc., which are religious in nature whose purpose is to worship the God and Godesses.
The other festival is Pongal / Vishu are to celebrate nature's bountiful harvest and thank the Sun God.
So let us enjoy the beauty of Holi festival and celebrate the new colours of nature.
People should appreciate the colourful beautiful look after applying the colours. But people laugh after applying the colours, as if they have succeeded in de-facing the girls and women, making them feel uncomfortable. We tend to mis-do anything whose intention is basically good. Mis-doing, sometimes turns mischievous also.
It is a joyous festival celebrating natures' blossoming beauty unlike other festivals such as Ganesh Pooja , Durga Pooja etc., which are religious in nature whose purpose is to worship the God and Godesses.
The other festival is Pongal / Vishu are to celebrate nature's bountiful harvest and thank the Sun God.
So let us enjoy the beauty of Holi festival and celebrate the new colours of nature.
I was forced to celebrate holi in IIT Kanpur in 1969. I expected that the colors would be applied only on those desirous of getting colored. Unfortunately even though I tried to avoid the color, I was colored.
ReplyDeleteThen I found that some boys used the occasion to touch some girl students in the process of applying color to them.
The public as a whole -- irrespective of whether the persons were even acquainted or not -- splashed colors and sometimes cold colored water on the passers by.
Such activity of spoiling the clean dress of the passer by in Kanpur might have a role -- that of forcing the person to take bath in cold water after having taken bath in hot water during the winter.
But to imitate the same in Bangaloru or Chennai where the population normally takes bath in cold water all year round does not seem right.
In all festivals other than Holi, if I am not wrong, one gets invited to celebrate the festival by friends. Unfortunately there seems to be no such restriction with respect to Holi.
Am I right?