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Holi, the Festival of Colours
Holi, the festival of colours, heralds
the arrival of spring and the passing  of
winter. It's a time for social merriment, a time
for people to bury their hatchets with a warm
embrace and throw their worries to the wind in
the form of ghulal. The air is electric with zeal
and enthusiasm. People drench each other with
the vibrant colours of holi, red, green, yellow,
blue, black and silver.
The celebration of the festival of holi is lost
in legend. An ancient story speaks of Holika or
Putana, a demoness, who took immense delight in
devouring children. Lord Krishna destroyed her
and saved the little children. Hence the ritual
of burning the effigy of Holika to this day. This
is said to be the origin of the festival of Holi.
 The
Aryans celebrated Holi as 'Vasantotsav', a day
that honoured Agni, the Lord of Fire. The famous
poet Kalidasa called it 'Madanotsav', the spring
festival. Holi signifies the bounties of nature
and there is a feeling of plenty in the air, with
crops harvested, threshed and stored or sold.
There is money in hand and a hint of the warm
breeze of impending summer. The moment is just
right to celebrate joyously in a riot of colours.
In South India, Holi is known by the name of
Kamadahana, the day on which Kamadev, the God
of Love, was burnt by Lord Shiva.  Grief-stricken
Rati, Kamdev's wife beseeched Lord Shiva to take
pity on her and restore her husband to life. Hence,
the songs sung during Holi tell the pathetic tale
of Rati and her lamentations. In Tamil Nadu Holi
is known by three different names - Kamavilas,
Kaman Pandigai and Kama-dahanam. The day, which
brings colour and cheer into all our lives, is
here at last!. Holi happens to be just about everyone's
favourite holi-day, especially the young. This
is a festival that brings people together in a
true spirit of celebration.
 The
festival is also a symbolic representation of
the triumph of good over evil. Though the festivities
are slightly subdued down south, enthusiastic
revelers are not in short supply. A student from
Mount Carmel College says, "In today's world,
though a lot of us do not bother about the actual
origins of the festival, we all just want to have
fun." When asked about how each of them plans
to celebrate this day, the students said " We
all look forward to meeting up with friends and
really letting our hair down."A few students from
Christ College plan to have a bash with a difference,
"We are going to old age homes so that we can
distribute sweets and spread the spirit of love
and giving." Yet others plan on having private
bashes and exchange gifts with family and friends.
Elders feel that Holi should be played enthusiastically
but safely, "We should be careful not to use spurious
and substandard colours. Also the people should
be free to play of their own will and not forced
into things they are not comfortable with." Well
let us all use this opportunity to mingle with
each other, discover the child in us by playing
with water balloons and colours galore. A word
of advice though. Don't go around indiscriminately
splashing colours on all and sundry, especially
strangers. Go on, have fun and paint the town
red.
Have a HAPPY HOLI.
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