Tis was the festival of colors

Holi has become just another festival, a date on a calendar that comes and goes away. However this was not always the case . There was a time when Holi used to be a pivotal point in our lives. The preparation for which started many weeks ahead of the festival of holi. This was the festival that the entire family celebrated together. In those times families were not nuclear instead it meant all the uncles and aunts and even the neighbors gathering at our home. Every one would don there crisp whites and start playing with yellow tesu flowers that were soaked in water to color it with the organic color. If you thought this was boring then wait. This used to be just a warm up session. Soon this mild form of Holi would turn into a riot of colors with everyone smearing each others faces with gulal. This used to be the way of getting everyone  into the mood. Then with each round of color play with gulal the battle of colors would intensify. Gulal would give way to faster and darker colors and everyone would be running after one another trying to outdo in smearing colors. By the time this ritual would have reached feverish pitch and by now everyone would be covered with layers of color from head to toe. The hair would be all filled with colors and so was the face. If this was not enough the abandoned bathtub in the backyard would be filled with fast colors and one by one each member of the family would be chased and literally pushed into the tub. All this was in good fun and care was taken that no one got hurt.The only protection that I know used to be the “Tail Ka Jod” or the oil massage that my mother insisted that I apply on all my exposed body parts and my hair. This coating of oil would help us wash of the color after the festivities stopped . Now a days neither do the relatives get together nor are there festivities. Everyone avoids playing Holi on one pretext or the other .Suddenly “Celebrating Holi” has become a taboo word that no one wants to touch even with a barge pole.In all this aversion to playing Holi I miss all the togetherness, that care free running after one another,that smearing of colors and then eating sweets and Namkeen together. It was not the time of Selfies as no one had cell phones yet the visions of those carefree Holi festivities and the memories  are etched clearly in my heart and mind and I yearn to relive those funtastic Holi moments one more time.So this year I and my family have decided to relive those happy times once again. We plan to recreate those happy times and relive a colorful Holi once again. So the mood this year at Holi time at my home is going to be #KhulKeKheloHoli . All are invited and care would be taken that no one leaves our home without being drenched in buckets full of fun so let the festival of Holi begin.

“I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.”