My Memories of Holi

Holi has been the most important festival for me right for my childhood. It meant going and spending the whole day with my grandparents. I used to look forward to this day. There was a lot that happened on this day. Firstly on the day prior to the day of playing Holi I could witness the ladies from neighboring houses go to the temple and pray. In the evening there used to be a huge bonfire where the ladies from the neighborhood would come and pray. The ambiance created by the flames burning bright rising from the crackling wooden logs rising skywards mixed with the cacophony of sounds. Sounds of coaches and folk songs made it a night to remember. Indeed those nights were magical.

What used to follow the next day was also truly unique. As the day of Holi used to be a festival of celebration like no other So days in advance ingredients like melon and watermelons seeds ,khus etc would be procured cleaned and measured in the right proportions. Then on the morning of the Holi festival they would be finely ground into a very fine paste.I have my earliest memories of this mix being grinded by the women of the house on a large stone mortar & pestle however later on a mixi was used as it was quicker doing it this way. Then this mix would be passed through a fine cloth used as a Strainer. This would go into making of Thandai . Mixed with the application of gulal on our faces this thandai proved to be very relaxing. As the women of the household went about preparing the various dishes we children would run around trying to drench one another with water or wet colors.
This was just the start and our excitement mounted as relatives and neighbors began to pour in Each came armed with a packet of gulal in his hand.We would pounce on it as soon as they kept it aside and emptied the entire contents on them. Their faces looked so funny that we could not stop laughing. We had a big mirror in the gallery and when these people saw themselves in it their first reaction was one of shock and then they too burst out with laughter.
As girls our activities were restricted to the confines of our home but yes we could go out on the balcony and terrace to target any available people and color them to our hearts content. We would also help our brothers by replenishing the colors and gulal and also filling their Pichkaris again and again. This was hectic work and we enjoyed it thoroughly. Then we the womenfolk got together to have a Holi blast and there was a lot of running as we ran after each other with color in our hands to play #KhulKeKheloHoli .It was great fun Then it was time to have the Holi lunch which was indeed a treat and mouth watering. The very word Holi takes me back to my childhood days and I wish that I was a child once again.

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