Holi

Madame & Monsieur M(friend from days of yore) & S invited us to a Holi party they were hosting in their home and it was probably one of their last parties for the moment. They're moving out of the country and it will a few years before we meet again I guess. As usual, since the Doc was away, the Doc's wife was at play :).

Its been years since we enjoyed holi in this scale. With the years, our consciousness both in terms of safety and the environment has increased so we had eco-friendly colors*. To reassure ourselves that the colors would not leave horrid stains on our skin, we applied huge quantities of oil in the hope of abating a "mass scare**" at work the following day when colleagues sight us.

So, we finally started playing, poured buckets of wierd colored water on each other, rubbed hues of reds/yellows/greens/purples/silver and gold colored powders and pastes on one another for 2 hours. In the meanwhile, S was enthusiastically serving thandai and sugarcane juice to quench our thirst and keep the energy levels high. What he forgot(or intentionally did not) to mention was that...the yummy yet confounded concoctions he stirred up was actually laced(and laced being an understatement) with bhaang. The party planners appeared to have had a well thought out strategy for maximizing fun and guest retentions.
There was of course lunch to follow and we'd organized a potluck with some dahi bhalla(from me), a lamb preparation(by M),hot and delicious jalebis, samosas(thanks to some one else) and some veggies for likes of the vegetarians like me and so the menu ran.

After a lot of boisterous and noisy fun, we'd almost scrubbed off huge chunks of skin to get rid of the color. Then we began gorging on some really hot and yum jalebis. The intelligent few (like me who else !!) avoided stuffing ourselved because we knew that bhaang and jalebi*** together are the last two things you would want in your system i.e. if you want to stay awake, keep up your decent or at least half decent behaviour and drive home safely to the comforts of your own bed. So we had a couple of giggly wives, galumphing husbands and a dog in psychedelic colors going beserk in the noon heat on an open terrace. Anyway, I managed to drive back home in one piece and hit the sack around the time that the bhaang started kicking in. It was a nice day of fun and cheer.

I must appreciate M&S, they really had their act together. I have a couple of years to plan the perfect revenge on them, can't wait until we meet again


*I would seriously question their "safety". I thought natural colors are always pleasing to the eye but these just managed to appear horrendously pink...but the packaging said that they were safe for kids and the environment. We definitely did not want the little ones joining the fun to be hurt in anyway.

**God forbid!! Especially since our appraisals due shortly (tee.. hee..we could not help giggling imagining our boss' horror-stricken expression).I had already thought of covering up my feet in socks inspite of the rising temperature in Bangalore.

***Bhaang and jalebi in that combination can really get you flighty and fighting for stability. Its a pleasant kick of sorts that can have others laughing but you crying for hours on end...

Diwali - past & present

My parent are extremely enthusiastic about any sort of celebration. They have the incredible stamina and loads of energy to go the whole hog for every occasion. Right from preparing the numerous delicacies that is typical of each Indian festival to calling friends and family for elaborate and well thought out dinners for each occasion and just being able to celebrate every occasion with a lot of style and fervor. It was always very overwhelming and heart warming to see the detail and effort that went into each little thing while planning for such occasions. Diwali was the special”est” for us kids.

Each Diwali began at 4:30 am with a loving but really loud wake-up call from Dad. Coming from a typical Tamil Iyer family we had a typical Deepavali Ritual. Our day began with Mum massaging gingelly oil onto our heads, giving us our new clothes and finishing off the routine with a tasting of the sweets and savories prepared in advance with a lot of patience and care. That was then followed by the “ganga snanam”, more a ritualistic oil bath than a dip in the Ganges. After we were dressed in our new clothes and took the blessings of the elders at home we had to burst some crackers and all this had to be done before the sunrise.

Diwali came and went. We never expected that we would celebrate or use the holiday to spend some time together. In fact, we never thought we would be together for Diwali this year. I guess I got really lucky and the Doc dropped in for a flying visit. We actually ended up having a blast on the eve of my trip to Saurashtra. We woke up really early to have a long long day. We began the usual rounds of calls to wish close friends and relatives as is the routine for every "important" festival and something as simple as that had me spiral back in time as you just read above.

Well, we did manage to light some diyas and I made a nice rangoli, saw lots of folks bursting crackers. I must say that we're totally averse to the noise, smoke and smell they generate as a result. I am personally extremely sensitive to the noise and scared of all the "fire" works. As a result, we stayed indoors through the day except for a few short drives to our friends' homes. Our day culminated in a fantastic party at our favorite couple's home and we finally saw the end to a Diwali pretty well spent for the likes of us.