Happy Holi

CONVERSATIONS FROM THE BOYS DORM…

“It’s not coming out! I’ve been rubbing for ages!” hollers Dave from the shower.

“You’ve got to rub pretty hard, but it will come out eventually”, Olly laughs reassuringly. Dave enters the room, at first glance he appears to be clean, as one would expect having just come out of the shower, however upon closer inspection the colour of his face resembles that of a beetroot salad. This is due to the fact that the team have been prematurely celebrating the festival of colour and attacking one another with brightly coloured dyes (some of which seem to be more permanent than others), on the rooftop of the guest house.

Ordinarily there is very little that will get the whole team up and exerting that amount of energy so early in the morning, but the prospect of being on National television appeals to the majority of the team. After their previous night’s performance on the banks of the river Ganges, the exhausted team members were informed by Kailash, the guest house owner, that television reporters would be round first thing in the morning to film them all engaging in ‘colour play’. Holi represents yet another curiosity of Indian culture, a time of year to celebrate merriment by throwing powdered dye into peoples faces, ensuring the efficiency of the dye is maximised by then having a water fight; the end result being a multi coloured pigmentation to the skin, which becomes semi-permanent.

No sooner had the metal trays of colour been laid out, hands were darting towards the neatly arranged piles of bright powders, all eager to ‘get amongst it’. Fueled by the uncertainty of where the next blow was coming from, the frenzy commenced furiously until there was no more colour left, so the colour play turned into general silliness involving unicycles, clown noses and wrestling between team members. Hopefully this provided the television reporters with sufficient footage to show PWB in a playful and positive light…

(The following day)

The attempt to dissuade women from getting involved in the fun during the morning of Holi proves to be ineffective and some of the team have decided to brave it, armed with multi coloured powders, water pistols and much courage. Valiantly, a small gang leave the guest house, returning after some time covered form head to toe in multi coloured camouflage and most of their dignity seemingly intact. Those of us who have chosen to keep clean on this morning of craziness tentatively step out onto the balcony of the guest house to witness the battle field on the street below, knowing that an attack could come from any angle.

By noon, the craziness seems to have subsided and apart from the odd solo, multicoloured straggler, all that remains are bright puddles and vibrant stains which now decorate the street. The prospect of safely walking the streets without getting attacked begins to lure the less brave of us and we cautiously wander into the desolate town in search of a meal (hopefully free of any colourants).

– Olly xxx