Guess how this happened!
Bring out your gulal and water guns and get ready to soak and colour people. We are going to celebrate a holiday that I just learned about upon arrival in India….. Holi!
Holi is a Hindu holiday celebrated all over India. During Holi, everybody covers each other with coloured powder and tries to soak as many people as possible. Family, friends, strangers… Everyone is a target.
The purpose of the festival is to say goodbye to winter and celebrate the arrival of spring. According to Hindu stories, Lord Krishna liked to put colours on his beloved, Radha. Over hundreds of years the colours became a tradition and today you can be ambushed by anyone so you have to watch out.
Mikhaila and I got up bright and early, eager to start the festivities. Ravi was waiting for us downstairs and we were out the door with our water guns.
“SPLASH!” was the first thing we heard when we went outside. The neighbours were ready for us and already started throwing water balloons from their balcony. One of them bounced onto the ground so Mikhaila picked it up and threw it back at them. Unfortunately, she missed the balcony and it landed on their front porch.
We continued down the street and suddenly, “SPLASH!”, we were being fired at again, but this time by some other neighbours! These neighbours were not throwing water balloons at us from their balcony, they were throwing them at us from their front porch! Mikhaila and I quickly took out our water guns and thought “this is our chance to fight back! We sprayed them as much as our little elephant water guns could.
We cautiously walked around the block and were not attacked until we turned the corner and walked back to the house…
Different neighbours started spraying us! Mikhaila and I quickly ducked behind a parked car but our little elephant water guns were no match for their super soaker. Mikhaila and I decided to just go for it and jumped out from behind the car and started spraying them.
We were soaked pretty quickly and decided to go back to the house to refill our water guns.
When we went inside, everyone was waiting for us, so we got out the coloured powder and rubbed it on each others faces.
After, we went outside and started pouring buckets of coloured water on each other and had a big water balloon/water gun fight with each other and the neighbours.
When we became really hungry, we decided to go to a nearby park where a comunity breakfast was being held. Many of Ravi and Anju’s friends and neighbours were there and put a lot of colour on us.
After breakfast, we went to a small shop to pick up some water balloons. Ravi noticed a policeman friend of his so we all pulled over and took a picture with him. He was making sure that everyone was having a safe but fun time.
We returned home to continue the big water/colour fight.
We kept throwing colours, dumping buckets of water on the neighbours and guess what? One of the neighbours popped a water balloon on my head and in my face! He tried to pop one on Mikhaila’s head, but it fell on the ground and she stepped on it before he could pick it back up.
They were also setting off colour bombs. They are like fireworks except they spew out colour and it is not fire, it is just coloured smoke. My dad had a great time setting them off.
Since Holi ended at 1:00 pm, we sadly had to finish our big water battle. We tried to wash the colours off our skin and hair, but it didn’t make a difference…. That is why my mom now has purple hair!
We finished our “Holi”-day with a delicious lunch at the same park from the morning.
I am really happy that we were able to participate in Holi. It is now one of my new favourite holidays. It reminded me of Carnival from South Goa because of the coloured powder and the water fights. I definitely want to go back to India next year so that I can celebrate Holi again!
Thanks to Ravi, Anju and Pranav for being such great hosts and making us feel so welcome. We really appreciate your kindness and hospitality. Thank you.
Comments
10 responses to “Happy Holi-Day!”
Holi mackarel! Good times 😉
Hi!
Ha ha! We had so much fun during this Holi-Day!
Hi Zoe and Mikhaila ! It’s your cousin Giselle. Teta Mae showed me your pictures. It looks like you are having fun. I wish I was there. I want to colour my hair pink, purple and red! Maybe we can celebrate Holi when you come back. My Baby sister is in mummy’s tummy. You’ll meet her when you come back home. I miss you! Love you, Giselle
Hi!
Giselle, I miss you so much. We are having a great time and I wish you were here with us…. When we come home, I am sure we can celebrate Holi and I can colour your hair red, pink and purple.
You must be so excited to almost be a big sister… I can’t wait to see you and your new sister when we come home! 🙂
I miss you! Love Zoë
My goodness! There sure seems to have been lots of laughter and silliness. But I guess that is the point? It all looked like tons of fun! Now here is my question: how long did it take to get both you guys and your clothes clean again!!??
Hi!
Our clothing is still coloured and my mom’s hair is still purple!
WOW!!!! What a way to celebrate the beginning of Spring! I love all the colours and I love how you had a great time soaking people and being soaked yourselves! Great Fun! Love, Baba
Hi!
It was so much fun soaking people… Especially with buckets of water!
Hi, Zoe, I read your posting on Sunday morning and from the first moment on, seeing the first photo to the last, I had a big smile on my face. It looks like you all had so much fun, and I was so into reading everything and looking at the individual pictures, that I just about missed the time to go to church. Your post was lots of fun, thank you. XOXOXO’s
Hi!
I had so much fun, and I am really glad that you had a smile on your face all the way through the post. If you ever celebrate Holi, you would not have to worry about going to get a pink streak in your hair, because you whole head would be multi coloured! 🙂