On this day all faces are masked with
colors, and social rules are relaxed in India. It’s of no surprise that
numerous communities overseas are also jumping on this multi-colored
bandwagon and wishing each other a ‘Happy Holi’ too. Every year, the Holi
Festival brings a rainbow of chalk to the streets of India. The Holika bonfire
is ignited the night before the Holi, bringing people gathered together for an
evening of dance and song.
The following day, the bonfire gives way
for a free-for-all carnival of color. Participants play, chasing each
other with colored water and colored powder. This festival is celebrated to
mark the triumph of good over evil and its main intention is to bring together
strangers, uniting the rich and poor, men and women, children and elders —
people who might not mingle otherwise. People are brought together to play and
laugh, forget and forgive, to repair ruptured relationships.
Holi is basically a traditional Hindu
festival, which is a way of expressing the rich cultural and traditional
heritage but now it has become very popular with non-Hindus in South
Asia, as well as communities outside of the continent also. In Europe it is
celebrated in the form of a music festival, featuring songs accompanied by an
exuberant riot of color on streets and buildings.
There are different forms of Holi
Festival across India, the Lathmaar Holi Festival in Barsana
(Mathura, UP) involves men with shields being beaten with women and bamboo
sticks during which the men attempt to fight the women off by sprinkling them
with colored chalks. In Delhi, it is celebrated in a modern way, as a music
festival with live performances and traditional multi-colored powder
throwing while in Jaipur it is celebrated as Holi Elephant Festival, featuring
elaborately painted elephants, elephant polo, and tug of war. RBMI, Bareilly
campus also celebrates colorful Holi festival every year with lots of music,
dhol, live performances, and unlimited games along with
throwing multi-colored powder.
The bitter image of this festival comes
when some crowd celebrates this divine fiesta with Alcoholic Drinks, Synthetic
Colors and Chemicals which becomes very dangerous for health as it may contain
insoluble metal particles and other harmful elements too which may cause eye
irritation or skin related problems. At the same time it generates serious
environmental issues also as they pollute the water. Some use water balloons
also whose careless usage creates plastic pollution too.
So despite behaving badly with others
and celebrating this festival with negative tools, we should share our joy with
others and must realize that it is a festival of love and friendship so it
should be celebrated in a decent way by maintaining the real spirit of this festival.