Relive the spirit of Holi

India is a country famous for its Holi festival or the festival of colors. This festival is a major attraction for the foreign tourists who not only love to watch this unique colorful festival but also take great delight in taking part and playing Holi. So many visitors time their visit according to the occurrence of this festival.

This is a festival which has been celebrated with much grandeur and aplomb by the royalty in the past as well as the masses. Each and every festival is a means of releasing tensions of every day life caused by myriads of reasons. But this festival of colors is one that spells full masti and enjoyment. It is indicative of throwing away of your cares just as we throw the gulal in the air which forms a cover to envelop us.

The weather is changing and so is the spirit. After being closeted in your homes during the winter months it is now the time to stretch yourselves in the open. It is the advent of spring and the harvesting of crops. So what better way is there to celebrate than the festival of Holi. Originally this festival was celebrated using flowers and gulal only. Steadily people started tampering with the traditional way of celebration and took to using crude objects like paints and grease and mud. This not only hampered the spirit but also created a bad and ill feeling. The main purpose of the festival which was to share happiness and love began to be tainted.

Whenever I hear the word Holi the scene of little boys running in the lane below my house flashes before me. They looked so cute with their hair well oiled and pasted close to their heads. It was a motley crowd as they belonged to different strata of society. Seeing them together one could not appreciate any difference between them as they were all friends. They stood below my house displaying their colors to each other but two or three of them were empty handed. Seeing their empty hands the other boys immediately made packets from their colors and distributed to them. Their smiles spread bigger smiles of happiness on to the faces of the givers. They looked at each other like conspirators. Then one boy came running with his small pail of water and the group pitched in to put colors into it. It was a scene that shook me to the core. This was true bonding when the social status did not come into the way of friendship. Happily they marched off to color others with their love. After a few hours I saw them returning. All of them were painted red, blue and yellow and seemed contented with their day’s outcome. As they were passing by my house I called them up and gave them Gujiyas to eat. After all it was Holi.

This year I am going to invite the little ones of my neighborhood to my place so that we may play #KhulKeKheloHoli and keep the spirit of Holi alive by playing it in the traditional way.

“I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.”

Live it Up This Holi

There is no other festival like the festival of Holi. It is one of the most ancient festivals being celebrated in India yet it is youthful.It has tramsended generations yet it has survived or shall I say almost done so.

If I try to trace the way it was celebrated there was a lot of fervor in the time of our parents and grandparents.

Take for instance the Holi song from the 70's blockbuster Sholey it was a pivotal and important part of the film .All the villagers are collected and playing together the festival of Holi. There was an element of fun in the air.

Even the lyrics of the song suggest that there was an element of fun in the atmosphere .Looking at lyrics of the song which go like this.

चलो सहेली

चलो सहेली

चलो रे साथी

चलो रे साथी

यह पाकड़ो

यह पाकड़ो पाकड़ो पाकड़ो पाकड़ो

इससे ना छ्चोड़ो

अर्रे बैयया ना तोडो

ओये तहर जा भाभी

अर्रे जा रे शराबी

क्या हो राजा?

गली में आजा

होली रे होली

भांग की गोली

ओह नखरेवाली

दूँगी मैं गाली

अर्रे रामू की साली

होली रे ःओलिःओलि के दिन दिल खिल जाते हैं

रंगों में रंग मिल जाते हैं

होली के दिन दिल खिल जाते हैं

रंगों में रंग मिल जाते हैं

गीले शिकवे भूल के दोस्तों

दुश्मन भी गले मिल जाते हैं

होली के दिन दिल खिल जाते हैं

रंगों में रंग मिल जाते हैं

होली के दिन दिल खिल जाते हैं

रंगों में रंग मिल जाते हैनःओलि है!गोरी तेरे रंग जैसा

तोड़ा सा मैं रंग बना लून

आ तेरे गुलाबी गालों से

तोड़ा सा गुलाल चुरा लून

जा रे जा दीवाने तू

होली के बहाने तू

जा रे जा दीवाने तू

होली के बहाने तू

च्छेद ना मुझे बेशरम

पूच ले ज़माने से

आइसे ही बहाने से

लिए और दिए दिल जाते हैं होली के दिन दिल खिल जाते हैं

रंगों में रंग मिल जाते हैनःओ ... ओह हो!

हो ... ओह हो!यहीं तेरी मर्ज़ी हैं तो

अच्छा चल तू खुश हो ले

पास आके चूना ना मुझे

चाहे मुझे डोर से भीगोले

हीरे की कनी हैं तू

मट्टी से बनी हैं तू

हीरे की कनी हैं तू

मट्टी से बनी हैं तू

छूने से जो टूट जाएगी

काँटों के छूने से

फूलों से नाज़ुक नाज़ुक

बदन च्चिल जाते हैनःओलि के दिन दिल खिल जाते हैं

रंगों में रंग मिल जाते हैं

गीले शिकवे भूल के दोस्तों

दुश्मन भी गले मिल जाते हैं

होली के दिन दिल खिल जाते हैं

रंगों में रंग मिल जाते हैं

होली के दिन दिल खिल जाते हैं

रंगों में रंग मिल जाते हैं

होली के दिन दिल खिल जाते हैं

रंगों में रंग मिल जाते हैं

होली के दिन दिल खिल जाते हैं

रंगों में रंग मिल जाते हैं

होली के दिन दिल खिल जाते हैं

रंगों में रंग मिल जाते हैं

Which translates to

Let's go girls

Let's go girls

Come on mates

Come on mates

Grab her

Grab her, grab her, grab her, grab her

Don't let her go

Careful don't break my wrist

Hey wait up sister-in-law

Hey get lost you drunkard

What's up dude?

Meet me in the alley

It's Holi, it's Holi

We'll have sweet balls of hash

Hey tantrum thrower

I will abuse you

Hey Ramu's sister-in-law

It's Holi, it's HoliOn the day of Holi we are happy

As the colours blend with each other

On the day of Holi we are happy

As the colours blend with each other

Friends let's keep aside our resentment

Even enemies hug each other

On the day of Holi we are happy

As the colours blend with each other

On the day of Holi we are happy

As the colours blend with each otherIt's Holi!Your skin is so fair

I will create a colour to match it

With your rosy cheeks

I will steal some pink colour

Go away you romantic fool

Using Holi as an excuse you

Go away, you romantic fool

Using Holi as an excuse you

Don't taunt me shamelessly

Ask the world

With this excuse

Two hearts play give and takeOn the day of Holi we are happy

As the colours blend with each otherHo ... oh ho!

Ho ... oh ho!If this is what you wish

Then fine you be happy

Don't get too close to touch me

You can spray me from afar

Are you an egg of diamond

Are you made of clay

Are you an egg of diamond

Are you made of clay

That you will shatter when I touch you

When thorns touch

The soft flowers

Their skin gets scrapedOn the day of Holi we are happy

As the colours blend with each other

Friends let's keep aside our resentment

Even enemies hug each other

On the day of Holi we are happy

As the colours blend with each other

On the day of Holi we are happy

As the colours blend with each other

On the day of Holi we are happy

As the colours blend with each other

On the day of Holi we are happy

As the colours blend with each other

On the day of Holi we are happy

As the colours blend with each other

It sure did capture some of the essence of the festival of Holi be it the element of saving oneself and applying color on to others .People used elements like bhang and thandai to get intoxicated.

There was not only playing with colors but also teasing but all in good fun.

I never got to see a Holi like this .Maybe it was too filmi to be true. As for the best Holi festivals that I can think off the best Holi festivals used to be the ones when all of us brothers and sisters would get together. We would arrange for large drums of water and put them either in the backyard or the terrace. These would be filled with water and color would be added to it and thoroughly mixed. Then all of us brothers would use brass pichkaris to throw colored water on each other. This was a fun filled activity.

All this running about  made us very hungry and just for hunger pangs like these my mother would keep ready home made gujiyas (Karanji), Kachodis and Samosa's and there would be lots of thandai to drink that would invigorate us and we would re start the next session of play after the snack break. So much time has passed and nobody plays Holi in that fashion anymore. I miss those good times and with the intention of reliving those happy times once again. I have decided to call all my brothers & sisters at our place and together we would like to re create the holi magic by #KhulKeKheloHoli and re live those happy moments once again.

“I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.”

If you care then its time you share

I never saw my father get up to pick his own glass of water. It was my mother’s “job” to serve him. He would always eat dinner first, and then when he was done, my mother would sit down for her meal. My father would proudly proclaim that he had no idea where anything was in the kitchen, and that he couldn’t even boil an egg. I observed this same dynamics, time and again, in the homes of my friends and other family members. There was a time when women used to stay at home taking care of household chores and family members. Times have changed, women now share equal responsibilities along with men in every sphere of life. Most of the families now run on dual income basis where both husband and the wife take care of financial necessities. Not much has changed. Housework is always considered a woman’s work. Indian men believe laundry is a woman’s job, and would prefer to watch TV over doing the laundry. My partner criticized me for one instance of my watching two hours of TV  while laundry and dishes were in the clothes washer and dishwasher (so  things were getting done, in fact) when he watches TV every day while  things need to be done around here.  I do 90% of the work, as I do the  dishes, cleaning counter tops, cleaning sinks, cleaning bathroom,  changing diapers, nursing the baby, and shop for groceries, cook  dinner, and he sometimes takes the baby when I need to attend to my  older child or do another chore. I feel like the workload is mostly on me. As we are living with in-laws, my husband is rebuked by his people and therefore feels embarrassed to help me with the household chores, even if he really wants to. A sense of bonding between husband and wife can blossom more easily if they are on their own, where they can share their lives freely without any inhibitions or ego hassles. It is because of the deep rooted social
setup that we all live in where a man is supposed to be the bread-winner and a woman is expected to stay in the confines of her house to take care of her family. It is simply not fair. If you have the resources, hire some help. If not, try to make it clear to your partner that it is not acceptable for you to be doing 90% of the work. Explain to him that you need his help in #ShareTheLoad.

 “I am joining the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign at BlogAdda and blogging about the prejudice related to household chores being passed on to the next generation.”

Sharing for a cause

The lamest excuse men give for not doing their laundry is that it’s not a
men's job. Men don’t sort the clothes into lots of whites and coloreds and let the dirty clothes lie. Men should now share more of the load. Detergent and washing machine makers and media should aim at this group. Children should be encouraged to do their laundry.
‘Mom! Where are my fresh socks?’
This is what we hear in every household. Children mimic the behavior
of their parents. The onus is on the parents to set the right
example. It is time to end the cycle of prejudice surrounding
household equality. Today when women are doing jobs outside the home and
managing the house also then why are they burdened with the laundry job of
the household. Dual earner couples should share the housework
equally. For society Laundry is a feminist issue.
Our society is responsible for this statistics
76% of married men in India believe that not helping with laundry
at home still makes them a great role model for their children.
I don’t agree and I help my wife with laundry and this makes our
bond stronger and I will make sure I teach my kids the importance
of doing the job themselves and sharing the load of the house. No men
should burden any women with their work or laundry.
I’ve heard working mothers who are tired and complain wearily about
how they can’t keep up with their family’s dirty clothes, or
apologizing at dinners for the allegedly messy, dusty state of the
house. Women still do the most housework, and men still use the
‘incompetence’ ruse, men also do say they believe in gender
equality. Unfortunately, women have been taught to believe that they
are primarily responsible for housework and child care.
78% of girls in India agree that they should learn laundry as they
will have to do it when they grow up.
I have seen how Mummy does so much cooking and cleaning. I want my
daughters to grow up knowing it’s not a women job only — how to wash
their clothes and scrub a bathtub.  I just want them to see it for
what it is, not a women’s work. It is just housework.
2 out of every 3 children think that washing clothes is a mother’s
job. I am happy that my favorite brand Ariel is furthering the cause
of equality within the households to get men and women across the
country to #ShareTheLoad. This is unfortunately often an overlooked
issue. It is also equally important to address the root cause of this
prejudice and prevent it from passing down from one generation to
the next.

“I am joining the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign at BlogAdda and blogging about the prejudice related to household chores being passed on to the next generation.”