Secondary School Level

If Deepawali is the festival of light and decency, Holi is the festival of colour and wild fun and frolic. All the people seem to be affected by a divine madness. There is a sense of wild exhileration and all restraints are forgotten for a day. The season, the spring, seems to excite them. A sense of wild enthusiasm fills them all.

Holi comes during the spring season, usually in the month of March. "Basant Panchami’, a month earlier, marks the beginning of Holi. People start collecting all their useless things which can be burnt. They are placed at strategic places in different localities. These are the bonfires that are burnt on the Holi eve. There is a legend behind it. It is said that Hiranyakashyapu, the evil king, wanted to kill his son Prahalad, who was a devotee of God. His sister Holika could not be burnt by fire. So Hiranyakashyapu asked her to take Prahlad, in her lap and sit inside the bonfire. Such was God's grace that Holika was burnt to ashes and Prahlad came out unhurt. Thus 'Holi’ is the symbol of the burning of all that is evil.

On the evening of the first day big bonfires are lighted in different part of the city. The flames seem to touch the sky. It is a glorious sight. People circle round the bonfire and embrace one another. Next morning starts the real fun. Big drums of coloured water are prepared. Coloured powder (Gulal) is kept ready. Every one who is outside is drenched  in coloured water and smeared with -gulab. People in different age- groups move about playing -HoIi. The ladies have their own groups and nobody is spared The children have great fun. Nobody minds being coloured. There is a sense of freedom and goodwill. People forget their earlier misunderstandings and fights. People dance and shout and jump and play practical jokes. There is wild joy everywhere.

In the evening people dress in their best clothes and visit their relatives and. friends. They are greeted by embraces and sweets. All the wildness is over but the goodwill remains. I love being a part of all this.