Recreating the old magic

Holi has always been a festival which was greatly enjoyed by the youth and the children.

We loved the splashing of colors, shouting, singing songs and running after each other. These used to be our main activities. The entire family used to be involved in making this festival enjoyable, memorable and a huge success.

It was my father’s task to do the shopping for the colors and the Gulal. So I used to give a list of the colors that I wanted to my father. I still remember how happy and surprised I was when he brought a beautiful brass pichkari for me along with the colors.

My mother was the in charge of the food department. She would too make a list of the items needed to make the delicious sweets and food for that special day. Since we had quite a number of relatives who came to visit us on the day of Holi she had to prepare quite a large amount of sweets and snacks. She used to start preparing the items at least one week in advance. I used to hover near the kitchen with the intention of offering her help and also to sample the sweets and snacks that she was preparing. Our home used to be full of the aroma of the snacks being prepared. My mother used to make the yummiest laddoos I have ever eaten. I used to request her to keep some aside for me to take to school in my tiffin after Holi so that I could share them with my friends.

We were now all set for the big day. A day before the playing of colors a huge bonfire used to be lit at the end of our street. Women dressed in colorful attire with a large plate containing items for worship used to go round the bonfire.

On the day of Holi we all got up early and after applying Gulal to Lord Krisna my mother applied Gulal on my forehead. We had our breakfast because lunch was going to be quite delayed. Then my mother oiled my hair to prevent any damage the colors may cause. She also applied some onto my face and arms. She told me that it would help in removing the colors easily. This done I filled my brand new Pichkari with colored water and waited for the guests to arrive. Soon our compound was filled with people comprising of relatives and neighbors. I had a great time splashing color on them with my shining Pichkari. I then helped my mother in serving the snacks to the assembled guests. There was a lot of bonhomie with the sharing of jokes and laughter all around. Soon the neighbors left as they had to visit some other homes. Then we served the food on a big table and we all took lunch along with our relatives. Eating like this was a wonderful feeling.

Those days are no more as people have moved to distant places and no longer gather at our place. My childhood memories do not let me rest in peace. So I have decided to invite my friends and neighbors to play Holi and stay back for a family lunch.

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