This colourful day brings exciting memories. Happy Holi to everyone.
We used to play with wet colours in the mornings. Waking up on Holi meant to get the friends together and start making the colour filled buckets. Elders would make sure we got some breakfast. After that would start three to four hours of throwing water and paint on each other.
My mother used to make delicious mutton which used to be eaten with sweet fried bread called Pua. Also, the unsweetened variety called Puri would be there. There were vegetarian options too but I loved the meat.
Showers to clean up the colours used to leave the skin very dry but it did not matter. Tired by this time and needed a good sleep in the afternoon to enjoy the evening, was absolutely necessary.
We used to wear light coloured clothes which welcomed spring. Light cotton materials in light colours would bring out the dry colours with which the evening was filled with. This was the time we would go to friends and families house, sharing food and colours. It is a thing among Indians that you must take blessings from elders on auspicious days so it meant going to each other’s houses. Very similar things were made in our houses which was standard for Holi.
The dry powder came in bright colours and had a beautiful smell to them. This would go into the scalp and then that meant another shower in the late night. This meant a really good sleep.
I have always loved Holi and these memories make me come alive a hundred per cent. We can’t replicate it in the UK but we do what we can do to make it special for the next generation. Virtual is what it has become nowadays. A zoom link does the trick. Have a great day. Happy Holi to all.