Rang De Basanti!!!
I've said before that South Louisiana is known for its festivals, but this past week has proved once again that nothing can really compare to South Asia. This Wednesday was Holi, the Hindu festival of colors. People celebrate the triumph of good over evil (a common theme in festivals here), and they do it by first burning bonfires the night before the big day. Then on the actual day of Holi, all craziness breaks loose and everybody gets together to "play Holi." I knew this had something to do with colored dye and water, but it wasn't until Wednesday morning that I found out just how fun playing Holi can be. My roomie and I were a little nervous at first because we'd heard about that people will ambush you with water balloons and dye as you walk down the street. We cautiously left our flat that morning, wearing the oldest clothes we had, and watching as groups of people, already colored by the celebrations, eyed us on the road. We walked over to our friends' society (apartment complex) a little after 10 am and the maddness had already begun. People of all ages were running around in the big grassy area, throwing powdered dye of all colors on each other, while kids ran around squirting everyone with water guns. We hesitated at first, just taking a couple pictures of the maddness--then our friends appeared and promptly wiped color on our faces, dragging us into the maddness. Before too long, we were throwing colors, splashing in the muddy water, and dancing to the loud Hindi music that was blaring around us. After a little over an hour of running around in the maddness, we took a break for a snack. By this time, most of the colors were gone, and it had turned into a giant mud fight, with a little dancing on the side. Within a few hours, everyone had headed home to get cleaned up, and the maddness of the morning was over. It was quite an adventure, and as my family would say, messy but good!