Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Happy "Holi" day

Happy "Holi"day everyone. I wish each of you everlasting happiness now and every day of your life.

Although, these days I am not so much into playing Holi but I enjoy the day nevertheless. The high positive energy that this day brings is absolutely infectious! Everybody is in such high spirits! You can't but get affected by it.

As a child I used to love playing Holi, it was great fun to run wild! Our Holi get-together would usually happen in an Army club, my parents would have their own group of friends, and we children were allowed to just be… What fun!

And every year, there was this standard lunch for Holi…Chole bhature, and I loved it! Never got tired of it. I still remember the taste. The colour from our hands would kind of mix with the gravy, and we happily gobbled that...nothing happened! I can't dream of being that bindas these days!

I guess now I know why I can survive without any stomach problems, even after having a lot of pani-puris from the road side vendor! I have a strong immunity. I thank my parents for not being so fussy!

I really like the significance of Holi.

Holi is believed to have originated from the word Holika. Holika was the sister of Hiranyakashipu who was a demon king. He had been given a boon by God Brahma, and because of the boon, it was absolutely impossible for him to be killed by anyone. As a result of this boon, he became arrogant and started attacking humans and Gods. He wanted everyone to start worshipping him instead of God.

However, his son Prahlad was a worshipper of Vishnu. He was so devoted to Vishnu that no amount of threats from his father stopped him from worshipping Vishnu. His father tried to get him killed several times but was unsuccessful. As a final resort, he asked his son to sit on a burning pyre with his (Hiranyakashipu's) sister Holika, and Prahlad obliged. Holika was protected by a boon so nothing would happen to her if she sat on a burning pyre. But the opposite happened. Prahlad came out of the fire absolutely unscratched and Holika burnt!

Holi is a celebration of good over evil; Arrogance over humbleness.
That in my mind is the essence of this festival.

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