Holi is an Indian festival where people suppossedly color each other with colored water and sing and dance. This was initially a northern indian festival ut y is now being celebrated all over india , probably due to the fun factor associated with throwing colored water on your friends and family and having a major paint ball festival of sorts.
Some say that this festival is a modern version of an older spring festival of vasanth panchami.(vasanth being spring and panchami means the fifth day from a point of either appearance of moon or disappearance of moon)
Whether modern or not, the way the festival is celbrated nowadays has largely digressed from the original format .
First off, only vegetable colors, mainly , turmeric water and vermillion water(burned or charred turmeric which then turns a crimson orange called kumkum or vermillion) were used in the past. Both of these are antispectic agents (here i am talking about traditional turmeric powder which is dried and powdered curcuma root and Vermillion which is heated up turmeric powder.) and therefore one would anticipate skin cleansing during this exercise of drenching each other in turmeric water.
I DO NOT understant the concept of GULAL , at all, since i have no idea what natural substance is pink. Gulal is probably a newer addition to the Holi celebrations. Unless some of you readers want to pitch me in on the chemical composition of Gulal.
But off late this festival has turned into an wholly unhealthy exericise of sorts with the usage of artifical colors which are silica or mica based or some other synthetic dyes which are probably even carcinogenic--especially since metanil yellow is a common adulterant substance included in turmeric to make it look more yellow and red dye based powders being used instead of vermillion . Many of these chemicals cause skin irritation and chemical irritant conjuncitivitis too. Nasal allergies and allergic bronchitis also are common due to these powder dyes.
You might have started wondering as to why the header of this blog entry is DRUNKEN BRAWLS . I am getting to the point.There is a practice of consumption of a drink called BHANG, especially in the northern states where this festival of Holi is celebrated more commonly than in the south of India.Bhang is a cannabis based drink that is prepared and drunk on this day. The men consume this much more than the women, since most women really don't enjoy that much freedom in many indian families outside of the metros in Northern India(read my older blog entry on kanpur to understsand this social situation ). Cannabis is a pshychotropic agent, a substance that alters the mind state and mental perception to a large extent. Cannabis though really illegal in most parts of the country is sold legally and prepared and consumed legally most popularly in certain tourist cities like Jaisalmer and traditionally by the wrestlers in varanasi on the banks of the Ganga(the holy river that flows through the city of varanasi also known as Banaras by some).
Off late, as is expected in India, Men have started using the excuse of Holi to guzzle down lots of Bhang and then get into drunken brawls . It is fun how many Indians especially Indian men find many ways to use culture and tradition as an excuse to do a lot of undesirable things. The fact they they hide behind the banner of tradition is what irks me.
Needless to say, these drunken brawls are one reason why many women are weary of Holi, where you are expected not to refuse to color being applied on you by all others and ofcourse these men use the excuse of Holi to grope women on the pretext of applying color.
Indian men in general are sexually perverted and most of them have had their first sexual experiences with prostitutes after having watching illegally imported porn movies too for inspiration. For some reason in India it is okay for the young adolescent BOYS alone to go ahead and try and seek sexual experiences even if it means that the boy would go and sleep with a prostitute because ofcourse there are seperate rules for GIRLS. And for some reason there are red light areas even in smaller towns which are quite reflective of how much of a market there is for prostitutes even in small towns .These small towns are the very towns where these very men go on and on and about Indian culture and yada yada too and cover up their own women and beat them up and cooly go and sleep with prostitutes . HYPOCRICY AND EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN IS RAMPANT IN THESE VERY SMALL TOWN CITIES THAT PREACH CULTURE. These men are of the ignorant view that culture only constitutes gender based discrimination.
Anways, I was only trying to explain the psyche behind why men would attempt to grope women on Holi day. They are sexually frustrated , they are perverted to a large extent primarily due to lack of a healthy perspective towards sex and towards the opposite gender.With such a state of mind, they really do not have the courage to approach women and try and interact with them , ask them out on a date or interact with them in a healthy manner and know them better.
To them , officially , sex is OH SUCH A BAD THING, but then time and time again, true instinct takes over and they still find themselves being sexually inquistive. Sexual curiosity is normal and channelizing this sexual energy in a healthy manner and allowing respectful but open interaction with the opposite gender is what is necessary so that these young adolesents don't grow up into guilty pervereted abusive adults.
That ofcourse doesn't happen in India. Everyone wants to pretend and potray a certain picture of what they consider is chaste. But a lot of things including abuse happens behind closed doors and yes everything is brushed under the carpet.
So, yeah, a lot of Indian men grow up to think that women are objects that lead them to do the sin of having sex. Women on the other hand actually become objects in the hands of men and are quite scared for most part , feel like victims and consider themselves as mere breeding instruments for the men. They are psychologically encouraged to sacrifice their personal aims and ambitions and opinions and this is done by branding anyone that doesn't do things for their husband as an evil person. Well, in that case , since the husband doesn't cook for the wife either , doesn't he become an even more evil person , who just sits and eats like a pig while making someone else slave for him?Anyways, sigh.
Never mind my analysis, this analysis is for another entry.
Right now let us come back to HOLI.
When a lot of color is applied on a face, the facial features become unrecongnizable for most part. This, kind of ,gives the Molesters to assume the role of THE ANONYMOUS GROPERS. These men get cultural license to get drunk on HOLI, and then parade on the streets and grab and grope hapless strangers ,mostly women, and in the process of applying colors many women get molested in the form of boob groping and butt pinching too. Since all their faces look alike, the perverts get away with the crime.
This is why most Indian women try to stay indoors and only play Holi colors inside their homes with just their family members. If they dare to venture out, they risk groping and molestation by drunken strangers.
When i see advertisements of INCREDIBLE INDIA, where they potray HOLI as this 'oh-so- jolly-festival' where everyone is happily playing with colors and all is hunky dory, I feel that is a fake show. I want people to remember that a lot of women get molested and groped on this day against their will .
But I am no cynic. I have a solution.
My solution would be
1/Yes, please play holi, but with vegetable colors, mostly turmeric and make sure that the turmeric is not adulterated either.
2/Please don't get drunk on Holi, Instead drink fruit juices .
3/Please donot apply color on anyone without asking permission first. Probably they are on their way to work or to an important meeting. Please be considerate. Ask permission.Apply color only if they say that they are okay with it.
4/Please use the TILAK ONLY practice. just apply a tiny thumb impression of color on the other person's forehead. That is a more polite and civil way to exchange love and happiness on a festival like Holi.
I think that Holi fally on 11th March this 2009. Play safe, please be considerate and please don't drink.
Peace.
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