Gaiety,
communal harmony mark Holi celebrations
by Maya Singh/Sarada
Lahangir/ Sushil Pareek
New
Delhi/Rengala (Orissa)/ Mumbai: Caste and religious
preferences took a backseat on Wednesday, as Indians took
to the streets across the country to celebrate the festival
of colours - Holi - with gay abandon and in a spirited fashion.
Communal harmony and bear hugs were the order of the day
as it rained water balloons, buckets of water and coloured
powder on all and sundry. Sanghamitra, a young eight-year-old,
chose to get up late, but pretty soon, she had her whole
family, including her granny and uncle all excited about
going down the alley where her residence was located to
mix up with the neighbourhood's elders and kids, splashing
a riot of colour and water. "I don't like cold water being
sprayed on me, but this is Holi. I can't avoid it. I want
to play it. I want to play with Aishya and Dhardi didi,"
Sanghamitra said. Soumya Mahapatra, a resident of Rengala
in Orissa, was no less enthusiastic about celebrating the
festival of colours in all its multi-coloured hues. "Holi
is time for celebration, a change of seasons, from winter
to spring," Soumya said. North India, reeling from unexpected
rains on Tuesday, experienced a festival of colours on Wednesday
morning, marking the end of winter and the arrival of spring.
From the Holi heartland of Vrindavan and Varanasi to the
tinsel town Mumbai to Anandpur Sahib in Punjab and up to
the frontiers, it was a scene of jubilation as people from
all walks of life sang "Holi hai bhai Holi hai, bura na
mano Holi hai."
At Vrindavan, a huge procession of people -- all drenched
in colours - converted the whole city into a sea of colour
as Brijwasis sang and danced through the streets and thoroughfares
and at temples and ghats, celebrating a festival that is
said to have born in these very lands many centuries back.
In the nation's frontiers, the sentinels of the border are
celebrating in high spirit far away from their families.
There is nothing that can dampen the Holi spirit among the
soldiers. While the very tradition of Holi usually revolves
around Lord Krishna, in Karnataka, it's Lord Shiva who burns
away the evil. Government offices and courts in the state
remained open, though there was no bar on joining in the
Holi festivities. Holi holds a mythological importance -
that of the triumph of good over evil. "We are together,
we are like brothers, we are like friends and we celebrate
every occasion, every festival together over here," said
Rakesh Nanak, a Hindu resident of Rengala in Orissa. Fakkiruddin,
a Muslim resident echoed Nanak's sentiments saying: "As
they join our Muharram and Eid festivals we celebrate their
festival Holi. We celebrate all the festivals together like
brothers, there is no difference between us."
In
Mumbai, underprivileged children celebrated the day with
environmental friendly herbal colours. Green team of Rodas
Hotel, the designer Ecotel together with Syntel's sponsored
S'Prayas and Mobile Creche of India organised a celebration
party for these street children on the eve of Holi to promote
the use of environmental friendly colours. "This event,
which we held here was because of the festival of Holi.
We use anything on Holi, the street kids use anything like
grease, paint. Our idea was to use environmentally sensitive
colours, to use herbal colours. Because they would not get
it anywhere so we got them the colours," Arindam Bahel,
a chef at the Rodas Hotel said. The children who gleefully
ran around playing with colours said that they had a great
time. "We had a lot of fun. We played Holi with all the
kids and enjoyed a lot, said Rajkanya, an underprivileged
girl. Holi is celebrated across India at the onset of spring.
People put colours on one another and distribute sweets
on the occasion.
Bomb-struck
Varanasi bounces back on Holi
by Girish Kumar
Dubey
Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh):
The temple city of Varanasi is known for its rich musical
tradition, especially during festive occasions like Holi
and Diwali. Such occasions bring out the best in people,
who usually gather in groups and hit the streets, singing
and playing the dholak or the tabla. This year though, Holi
in Varanasi is being celebrated in a muted tone, as the
temple town is yet to recover from the twin blasts of March
7 that claimed 20 lives and maimed more than 50 at the Sankat
Mochan Temple and at the Varanasi Cantonement Railway Station.
On Wednesday, it was not exactly a riot of colours in Varanasi.
Some people chose to sing and dance their way to the ghats
that dot the banks of the River Ganges to offer prayers
before beginnig their Holi celebrations. The spirits were
not dampened. Youths arrived at the ghats and drenched themselves
in various colours. The temples, however, chose to celebrate
the event in a muted way. The Sankat Mochan Temple, one
of the central points of Holi celebrations over the years,
is yet to recover from the scars of terror. The town's social,
cultural and trade organisations opted to keep celebrations
at a low key.
Over
two dozen organisations cancelled their proposed Holi Milan
(Holi Get Together) functions to express their sorrow and
sympathy for the bereaved family members of blast victims.
Newspaper reports quoted Santosh Ojha, the founder president
of the Bhelupur Vyapar Mandal and patron of the Kamachcha
Vyapar Mandal, as saying that there would be no Holi celebrations
in view of the recent bomb blasts. Sankalp, a social organisation,
opted to celebrate Holi in a simple manner with the aim
of promoting communal harmony and brotherhood. It distributed
sprinklers, colours and other items among the orphans of
the Kashi Seva Samiti. The Kashi Sarrafa Mandal also decided
not to celebrate Holi as mark of respect to the blast victims.
The Sindhu Samaj Samiti also cancelled its Holi function,
while several employees' associations, including Jalkal
Karmchari Sangh, Jal Sansthan Karamchari Sangh, Yuva Shramik
Parishad, Nalkoop Karamchari and Ministerial Staff Association
followed suit. A meeting of traders was also held today
to pay homage to the victims of the blasts. Overall, the
spirit was that of resilience and a determination to bounce
back from a tragic episode through a sea of colours. The
festivities may have commenced on a sombre note, but when
reports last came in, the mood had picked up. Shops were
selling bhang and gulal (coloured powder), the morning rains
notwithstanding. Special security arrangements have been
made in Varanasi, Lucknow, Faizabad, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar
and other places in the wake of the March 7 blasts.
Kanpur
residents shy away from synthetic colours
by Mahendra
Mishra
Kanpur:
Holi celebrations may be underway across the country,
but in the textile and leather hub of Kanpur, the public
is shying away from the use of synthetic colours. The unabated
sale of synthetic Holi colours has evoked resentment among
the people here. "Sales are quite satisfactory. But the
present situation and the weather condition have affected
the market," said a shopkeeper, who was selling colours.
Expressing serious concern over the unabated selling of
synthetic colours, people here have urged the authorities
to ban the sale of such items. "For this, we are facing
a lots of problems. synthetic Colours have spoiled our cloths,
skins, etc. Due to the use of such colours diseases of various
kinds are spreading rapidly. We are continuously demanding
them not to sell such items, but in vain," a commoner regretted.
Dr Sushil Chandra Srivastava, a skin specialist, has urged
people not to use synthetic Holi colours. "We should not
use synthetic Holi colours. This will affect our skin permanently,"
Dr Srivastava added.
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