Holi

I had three goals for this trip: the World’s Fair, the temples and palaces in Hampi, and celebrating Holi.

Holi is a Hindu festival that celebrates spring, love, and new life. Some families hold religious ceremonies, but for many Holi is more a time for fun. It’s a colourful festival, with dancing, singing and throwing of powder paint and coloured water. Holi is also known as the “festival of colours”.

If you don’t know about Holi, go to YouTube and search for “Holi”. There will be hundreds of posted videos.

Prior to Holi, I had been planning and preparing. I bought a cheap pair of sunglasses (100 rupees, about $1.30) to protect my eyes. I sealed my cell phone in a ziploc bag to protect it.

What I needed was a Holi Suit, a bright white jacket with bright white pants.

Nikhal, my friend at the hotel, had offered to buy a Holi suit for me. Unfortunately, his manager at the hotel said that wasn’t allowed.

Instead, I took a tuktuk to Hospete, the nearby town where he lives and he brought me to a tailor shop. The shop owner measured me and picked out a perfect Holi Suit for me.

For reasons that no one seemed able to explain, the group organizing the Holi celebration was going to celebrate on Saturday not Friday, the official day.

That complicated my schedule since I was scheduled to leave Hampi on Saturday.

On Saturday morning, I put on my new Holi Suit and my new sunglasses. I wore my water shoes, since the colors would easily wash off. I placed my cell phone in it’s Ziploc bag in the inside pocket of my Holi suit. I put my hat, my camera, and everything else in my luggage.

I checked out of the hotel. I asked them to hold my bags until I returned. My tuktuk driver wasn’t there but someone claiming to be his brother was. He brought me near to where the celebration would start and told me to follow the sound of the drums.

It was everything I had hoped for!

I bought four packages of colored powder (red, yellow, green and blue) and joined the party.

As expected, I stuck out like a porcupine in a nudist colony.

I’m one of extremely few non-Indians here. And, I am the only one wearing a white suit.

Everybody with a camera wanted my picture. Guys on the roof taking video were following me with their cameras.

Everyone without a camera spread color all over my face and hair. And they posed for me to add color to them. Little boys with squirt guns sprayed colored water on everyone in range.

We danced to the music and followed the drums.

I played until I was covered head-to-toe with assorted colors.

Many more celebrants were heading for the main temple. Many police officers, even a bus load of police, were arriving. It was obvious that this celebration would be continuing for a long time.

Much as I would have liked to stay, I had seen and been part of what I had come for and it was getting hot.

I looked for my tuktuk driver. He still wasn’t there. Another driver who also claimed to be his brother said that the original driver had to take his tuktuk for repairs. With no other option, I asked this new guy to bring me to my hotel.

At the hotel, I reclaimed my luggage. I had packed a change of clothes separately. I went to the men’s changing room next to the pool and put on fresh clothes. Put the no longer white Holi suit in a plastic bag.

This new tuktuk driver brought me to my next hotel.

After all that, my original tuktuk driver called and said he wanted the money I had earlier offered him. I was shocked that he still wanted to be payed even though he had never appeared. I paid my driver handsomely but refused to give him more for his “brother”.

Once at my hotel I took a shower and attempted to remove the colors. As expected, the colors washed out of my water shoes quickly. My body, on the other hand, refused to let go of its new decorations.

The colors didn’t come off!

My face and hair were still completely covered with colors. Some of the colored water had soaked through my Holi suit. My chest was brightly colored. Same for my toes.

Some of the colors must have come off because the towel was now pink.

The next day, the colors were still there but starting to fade. Everyone I saw all day smiled when they saw me. If they spoke English, they asked where I had played at Holi.

The Holi suit had dried but didn’t look nearly as colorful as before. The colors had all run together. It just looked dirty. I folded it and gave it to the man at the front desk. He offered to have it cleaned. But, using hand signals I indicated that I wanted him to give it away. He understood and put it aside.

The following day saw further improvement. My chest and toes still had color but no one could see that, since I wore a shirt and shoes.

By the next day (72 hours), the colors were finally fading. My face looked reasonably back to normal. My beard actually looked better since it was now dyed and not gray. The top of my head looked like a sunburn.

Am I glad I “played Holi”. Absolutely! I had a wonderful time!

Would I do it again? Probably not. Once was enough for a lifetime of great memories.