Holi Hai!

First of all, a very Happy Holi to all of you! (I know it comes a bit late :P)

I fiercely oppose synthetic colours. Never did I find those hugely bright pinks and greens attractive. But sadly they have become the norm. When I was in school, we were always encouraged to buy herbal colours. Now that I think of it, school also helped me reach the decision of not bursting crackers during Diwali.

But whats the benefit of buying these herbal colours when most of the people use those syntheticy ones on me? Those shiny, sparkly powders with tubelights and whatnot mixed in them. A morning well spent on playing with the society people has resulted in rashes on my face and patches of colours that refuse to budge. :( I think I will have to be a little strict in future and roam around with a packet of my own colour, telling people to use only that, or nothing at all.

The celebration summed up in the best possible manner. A saintly south-Indian neighbour came up to me and dabbed a dot of sandalwood paste on my forehead.

Some colours refuse to budge

Family at war

(click on the pics to enlarge them)

My New Year

I never have plans on new year's eve. One reason reason being I am not allowed to venture into the darkness at such a young age (by my parents). I somewhat agree. I would rather sit in my warm couch at home and watch tv than worry out in the cold about my safety. The other reason is that my family is most boring in terms of celebrating stuff.

But things changed after we shifted to this society. I have more opportunities to socialise and meet people. I am a people's person and love attending even the smallest party/gathering/pooja/etc/etc. So boy was I happy when my mother and her Kitty Party friends (Funny name. Is it because women sometimes fight like cats?) decided to throw a new year bash for the whole society. It was all decided barely 2 days before new year's eve, so everything was done in a jiffy. A simple menu was planned. Every flat was going to be charged a humble 100 rupees. Food for the whole family, good music, fun and games. In short - a great start to the new year. What more can a person ask for? But then every society has its share of rotten apples. A few dunderheads refused to pay the money saying it was "too costly" and that they were "not interested". Very well.

31st December arrived and the excitement within me grew. I got ready and went downstairs with my mother. The crowd thickened, and within the hour we had close to a 100 people. It was a success! But then I noticed that even those who had not paid the money had come down! Some people have no shame!

We put on some music and let the children play games like musical chairs and passing-the-parcel. The usual. There was also a bonfire on one end to keep the cold at bay. Little kids were running around and the elders were playing tambola. A few teens gathered around the blaring speakers to perform a dance. There was this incredibly flexible girl who was slithering all over the place. Everyone was in excellent spirits.

The evening was spent running around, eating, playing games, chatting and relaxing in front of the bonfire. The sky grew darker and the breeze became colder. My sides were aching from laughing so much. I kept looking at my phone now and then to make sure that we did not miss the stroke of midnight. Finally when the mood was at its peak, I looked at my phone again. 11.58 pm. Just two minutes more to the new year! The whole area started buzzing with excitement. Everyone gathered around. One lady rushed to me with a GIGANTIC balloon in her hands. The countdown began. 10.................... 9.................. 8....................... 7...................... 6........................... 5........................... 4........................ 3........................ 2................ 1....................... 0....................... BAM!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!