The colors we play Holi with.
Posing with other teachers after a fun filled afternoon of Holi-playing.
Playing Holi at home.
Yes, this is what I looked like when I came home from school after playing Holi….
… with kids like this!Yesterday was a Hindu festival called “Holi” – I think it might be short for “holiday”, actually. Anyway, I had heard about this festival because it is the one where everyone throw colorful powder on one another. Sounds pretty pointless, I know, but so is Halloween or Valentine’s Day right?
Yesterday after lunch at school the teachers let the kids “play holi”, as they call it. I went home to get my camera because I thought it would be quite the spectacle seeing the kids running around, chasing each other with water balloons and throwing colors all over one another. What I didn’t realize (or perhaps simply refused to contemplate) was that I would be the main target of their game. Me, being the new, foreign teacher, was the individual that everyone wanted to make colorful.
To be honest with you, I was very hesitant at first because I was worried that the colors would permanently stain my clothes (which they did) but getting dirty was positively inescapable unless I wanted to lock myself up in my office and not come out (which I also didn’t want to do – I am supposed to be the fun young teacher, you know!).
At first, things were pretty tame. A few kids placed tikka on my head or gently rubbed a little color on my cheeks. I can’t remember exactly when it happened, or who was the responsible individual, but all of a sudden I had color in my hair, my ears, even my mouth (and boy, it tastes bad). I think that was the breaking point because after all the students saw what had been done, they all went crazy. I was attacked left and right by students wanting to put color ALL over me. At one point I hid behind another teacher and she accidentally got all the color on her. So the two of us, now completely red, plotted to get all the other teachers just as colorful as we were. We grabbed colored powder from a student, wandered innocently over to where the teachers were sitting (read: hiding), and when they weren’t expecting it, got color all over their faces. From this moment on, the entire school broke into an frenzy – colors flying everyone, kids running in every direction, water being poured on whomever and wherever…
I have to say that it was fun. Despite the fact that there is red in my ears and nose 24 hours later and that my clothes are mildly stained purple and red, I think I can say that it was worth it.
P.S. Today we played Holi at home and again I got color all over my face, hair and clothes.
P.P.S. Ama came home! It was a total surprise on my part. I had stayed up rather late last night (2am) listening to music and watching a movie (a Friday night tradition, since I don’t have to get up the next day for school). But at 6:30am, I heard a lot of racket in the hallway. Ama had just arrived and there was a happy reunion going on. I tried to turn over and fall back asleep, which I did. But it only lasted another 30 minutes because then Ama knocked on my door to say hello. Though happy to see her, I wished I could have done it at 8:30-9am rather than at 7am.
We spent the day eating good fruit (which I realized I had missed during her absence, because we only ate fruit once or twice), sitting outside, and being lazy. In one way, it feels that she never left, but at the same time I know there will be an adjustment period for me. We were together less than two weeks before she left and now I’ve spent like 5 weeks living in this house without her. But she brought a little surprise – Gita’s 5 year old sister. As I recently mentioned, Gita’s family is really poor. So while Ama was in the village, she agreed to take in her sister, just like she did to Gita. So now her sister (whom we named Muna – my recommendation) lives with us. She’ll help out around the house and hopefully go to school. But most importantly, she’ll enjoy a MUCH higher quality of life than she would in the village – she’ll get to eat vegetables and daal (legumes) with her bhaat (rice) rather than just salt and chillies. It’s been fascinating watching her wander around this huge house, eat snacks, drink tea, watch TV, watch me futz around on my computer. She won’t talk to me yet (I think I’m the first white person she’s ever seen) but she’ll come around.
Yesterday after lunch at school the teachers let the kids “play holi”, as they call it. I went home to get my camera because I thought it would be quite the spectacle seeing the kids running around, chasing each other with water balloons and throwing colors all over one another. What I didn’t realize (or perhaps simply refused to contemplate) was that I would be the main target of their game. Me, being the new, foreign teacher, was the individual that everyone wanted to make colorful.
To be honest with you, I was very hesitant at first because I was worried that the colors would permanently stain my clothes (which they did) but getting dirty was positively inescapable unless I wanted to lock myself up in my office and not come out (which I also didn’t want to do – I am supposed to be the fun young teacher, you know!).
At first, things were pretty tame. A few kids placed tikka on my head or gently rubbed a little color on my cheeks. I can’t remember exactly when it happened, or who was the responsible individual, but all of a sudden I had color in my hair, my ears, even my mouth (and boy, it tastes bad). I think that was the breaking point because after all the students saw what had been done, they all went crazy. I was attacked left and right by students wanting to put color ALL over me. At one point I hid behind another teacher and she accidentally got all the color on her. So the two of us, now completely red, plotted to get all the other teachers just as colorful as we were. We grabbed colored powder from a student, wandered innocently over to where the teachers were sitting (read: hiding), and when they weren’t expecting it, got color all over their faces. From this moment on, the entire school broke into an frenzy – colors flying everyone, kids running in every direction, water being poured on whomever and wherever…
I have to say that it was fun. Despite the fact that there is red in my ears and nose 24 hours later and that my clothes are mildly stained purple and red, I think I can say that it was worth it.
P.S. Today we played Holi at home and again I got color all over my face, hair and clothes.
P.P.S. Ama came home! It was a total surprise on my part. I had stayed up rather late last night (2am) listening to music and watching a movie (a Friday night tradition, since I don’t have to get up the next day for school). But at 6:30am, I heard a lot of racket in the hallway. Ama had just arrived and there was a happy reunion going on. I tried to turn over and fall back asleep, which I did. But it only lasted another 30 minutes because then Ama knocked on my door to say hello. Though happy to see her, I wished I could have done it at 8:30-9am rather than at 7am.
We spent the day eating good fruit (which I realized I had missed during her absence, because we only ate fruit once or twice), sitting outside, and being lazy. In one way, it feels that she never left, but at the same time I know there will be an adjustment period for me. We were together less than two weeks before she left and now I’ve spent like 5 weeks living in this house without her. But she brought a little surprise – Gita’s 5 year old sister. As I recently mentioned, Gita’s family is really poor. So while Ama was in the village, she agreed to take in her sister, just like she did to Gita. So now her sister (whom we named Muna – my recommendation) lives with us. She’ll help out around the house and hopefully go to school. But most importantly, she’ll enjoy a MUCH higher quality of life than she would in the village – she’ll get to eat vegetables and daal (legumes) with her bhaat (rice) rather than just salt and chillies. It’s been fascinating watching her wander around this huge house, eat snacks, drink tea, watch TV, watch me futz around on my computer. She won’t talk to me yet (I think I’m the first white person she’s ever seen) but she’ll come around.
P.P.P.S. After writing this I found out a little more about Holi. Nowadays it’s celebrated to mark the beginning of spring – it’s nicknamed “the festival of colors”, which I think represents spring beautifully. Traditionally, though, the celebration marks the triumph of good over evil. According to an old Hindu story, a girl named Holi-something had been granted the power of not burning in fire from the gods. But she used this power to try to kill a man she didn’t like – by latching onto him and throwing both of them into the fire. But because she was evil, the gods transfered her power to the man and she died instead of him. This happy festival marks her death.
