The Hindu festival of colors, Holi, is a spring harvest festival celebrating the triumph of good over evil. It can also symbolize love, forgiveness and new life.
Today we head to Holi at the Greens Community in Dubai. Although I know that officially Holi doesn’t kick off until the full moon (likely Wednesday of the coming week) the celebrations start early here today.
Not really sure what to expect I bundle the boys, dressed in old clothes, in a taxi, I’m expecting parking to be bad. We arrive at the Greens and there are a few people gathered in the park. Enough to sense that something is brewing. The taxi drops us off and we wander towards the crowd.
Feeling unsure as we arrive a man smiles at us, approaching, and greets us with a “Happy Holi” and a near of color on each cheek. Well at least we have th right place. The boys are shy at first with strangers approaching them, touching their cheeks. We need help o open the packers my friend has given me. Red, orange, purple, blue and yellow.
After a couple of practice runs, the boys are off. It doesn’t take long for them to be streaked with colored powder. Jasper runs off with one of his friends from school, Vihanna, and Harley discovers someone with a water pistol. I sit on the side and watch.
There is also music and of course dancing. The Indians are pretty amazing generally with dancing and can move their bodies in a way that I have never been able to.
Strangers approach me, touch my cheeks and wish me a happy Holi. I repeat the ritual. There is something solemn in the gesture despite the gleam in everyone’s eyes. This is a fun event. A day of celebrations.
The colors attest to this and Holi, the festival of colors, honors emotions and happiness. The clouds of color on faces, hands, clothes and in the air, carry the message of love and happiness on the wind.
Red or “aabir” is one of the most prominent colors of Indian festivities. Traditionally made from ‘Flame of the Forest’ flowers that were laid to dry then ground to powder. The resulting saffron-red hue is a symbol of fertility, love, beauty and most importantly, married women (red is the color of Indian brides).
Yellow is the color of the psyche and represents courage and selflessness. Yellow is synonymous with turmeric which is also an important ingredient in Indian cooking and considered auspicious at functions due to its traditional medicinal properties.
Blue is associated with Lord Krishna and takes the meaning of immortality, bravery and determination. Today the blue is a bright and vivid hue.
We also have purple, the color of wealth and grandeur and orange, the color of courage and sacrifice while green is the color of new beginnings, the harvest and happiness.
There is certainly a lot of happiness here today. I see friends greet each other with “happy Holi”, there are groups that have broken out in dance scattered across the grass.
Children of all ages duck and weave between the groups of adults, the vibrancy of the powders seem to have turned the grass into more of a battle ground than a symbol for some of the older boys with water guns.
Our friends, Brad, Diana and Kenny arrive and we are down to our last packet of yellow of which they all receive a good dose. Kenny’s blonde hair is tinged a bright shade of canary and Brad & Di’s dark clothes receive some smears from three pairs of little hands.
We sit in the shade for a while, the boys running races and having a snack. There is someone giving out cups of sweet, spicy, milky tea – it is cold and delicious. People come around with drums and the group chatting near to us get up and gather to dance. As the festivities are drawing to a close, we make our way over to the nearby Caribou Coffee, there is a playground and Jason is here to meet us although currently he is finishing up his late lunch.
A little more park play and then it is time to dust ourselves off and say goodbye. We bundle into the car in various states of undress to avoid coloring the car seats.
As I reflect on the experience the vibrancy of the powdered hues is as vivid in my memory as it was on my skin. Color may mean more to me in the future than it did before now and I wonder if I could do with a little more of it in everyday life. After all, who doesn’t want to attract a little more happiness to their life?
Would I Return?
Yes. Perhaps next year.