March 23, 2008: It was the same piercing sun rays which stung me up from slumber and I grumbled, moaned, cuddled, balled, kicked and then jumped out of bed. This was the way it had been happening since last few days as we had a week off here at SPJCM.
I just looked up to those murderous sun rays, but it was welcoming. Things at least looked different today. The rains were uninvited, unwelcome and dampening ( woww, what else could you expect out of them) since they had been ruling here for couple of weeks. It took time for me to realize that this was not the morning but after noon and today was Sunday when the canteen has something special – The chicken Biryani.
I wasted no time and botherations, so I headed straight for a shower and was all ready to have my lunch which I had been skipping so often these days. I “escalated” down ….and “ferraried” to canteen when the world suddenly turned “red” for me. Moments later, I got to know that I have been hit by, the very first, dose of “gulaal”. It was HOLI !!! and it was being celebrated here in Singapore. I was dragged to its epicenter. Small by looks, but deceptive, it was a 20X10 foot and dug 6 feet down, this place looked a miniature Coliseum where gladiators would fight in ancient Rome.
But this was no Rome, it was India far away from its shores. The mood looked “HOLI-sh” aka “Vagabond-ish”. The stage was decorated with mud, sweets, "pakoraas","thandaai”( Indian sweet drink) and most importantly buoyant familiar unfamiliar( no one looked the same as they were looking then) faces.
The mood was upswing, so I was tossed and brought down into the mud, a gorgeous welcome indeed. So I was now baptized HOLI reveler with mud all across and I was one of their men. This was the beginning, what followed later was group madness, with most of us getting engrossed in hysterical laughing and enjoying the mud bashing, occasionally intervened by sweets and “thandaai”. I remember the last time I had HOLI in Mumbai, and I was not able to remember much, blame the “thandaai”:) . This one was memorable too. The mirth was catchy and soon we saw crowd submitting to the madness, Well BONDING was working overtime and I saw in the ensuing madness to escape to the saner world. Hearts down—I was still immersed in thought- it would be tough to uproot again but as they say “The grief of separation is inseparable”, I am sure this HOLI would be tough to forget as had been the earlier ones.
I just looked up to those murderous sun rays, but it was welcoming. Things at least looked different today. The rains were uninvited, unwelcome and dampening ( woww, what else could you expect out of them) since they had been ruling here for couple of weeks. It took time for me to realize that this was not the morning but after noon and today was Sunday when the canteen has something special – The chicken Biryani.
I wasted no time and botherations, so I headed straight for a shower and was all ready to have my lunch which I had been skipping so often these days. I “escalated” down ….and “ferraried” to canteen when the world suddenly turned “red” for me. Moments later, I got to know that I have been hit by, the very first, dose of “gulaal”. It was HOLI !!! and it was being celebrated here in Singapore. I was dragged to its epicenter. Small by looks, but deceptive, it was a 20X10 foot and dug 6 feet down, this place looked a miniature Coliseum where gladiators would fight in ancient Rome.
But this was no Rome, it was India far away from its shores. The mood looked “HOLI-sh” aka “Vagabond-ish”. The stage was decorated with mud, sweets, "pakoraas","thandaai”( Indian sweet drink) and most importantly buoyant familiar unfamiliar( no one looked the same as they were looking then) faces.
The mood was upswing, so I was tossed and brought down into the mud, a gorgeous welcome indeed. So I was now baptized HOLI reveler with mud all across and I was one of their men. This was the beginning, what followed later was group madness, with most of us getting engrossed in hysterical laughing and enjoying the mud bashing, occasionally intervened by sweets and “thandaai”. I remember the last time I had HOLI in Mumbai, and I was not able to remember much, blame the “thandaai”:) . This one was memorable too. The mirth was catchy and soon we saw crowd submitting to the madness, Well BONDING was working overtime and I saw in the ensuing madness to escape to the saner world. Hearts down—I was still immersed in thought- it would be tough to uproot again but as they say “The grief of separation is inseparable”, I am sure this HOLI would be tough to forget as had been the earlier ones.
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