This Happens only in Dallas!!! Happy Holi…

Holi is the festival of colors celebrated in spring in India. I have had fond memories of Holi growing up in India, and all my siblings and friends, including me would gear up for the festival much before the actual date. Blowing water balloons and throwing them at people from the secret hide, pulling friends out of their houses and coloring them into rainbows would give us a rush of adrenaline.

After I moved to the US and all my family and friends remained in India, this festival lost much of its significance. It just stayed as an important date to remember, when I religiously call my parents and all elders for blessings. Sometimes I also go to the temple just to get the feel of the festival. But my love for holi playing never got satisfied in this alien clean world. I missed getting dirty on HOLI and the idea of dropping all inhibitions and getting exposed to the real fun side of people.

And then I moved to Dallas and on my first year here, I was invited to the biggest festival of Holi by a friend. The invite itself filled me up with excitement as the event looked promising .Like every occasion I wanted to dress up for holi and white was the color everyone was aiming at. I did not give a second thought to sacrificing the lovely white capri and a blouse that I had.  Another friend from New York also joined me here.

Unfortunately it was a freezing day, which none of us had expected. It was a low of 35^o  F and a high of 55^o F. A Holi day in the outside was going to get uncomfortable. I reluctantly took out a jacket which I did not want to spoil but still wanted to carry in case the cold got unbearable. However, the excitement to play Holi did not die.  When I reached the place, I was surprised. People had already turned up in hundreds and the beautiful lake side was brimming in spite of the low temperatures.

The blasting DJ music and the peppy fusion numbers dragged me to the center of the field where the excitement was in full swing and in minutes I was covered with color all over my face, hair and clothes. I was amused, happy and very excited. It is funny, but I am the kinds who would not shy from coloring myself if no one colored me. That much is my love for Holi.

This event at the Hidden Cove Park and Marina, Texas, organized by VJ Entertainment and Funasia had many attractions. There was Indian street food, Dhol play at different intervals, dance performances, Hookahs, Holika Dahan-The Bonfire and stalls selling nick knacks. There was also an Interactive Art Installation, hosted by a New York based artist ‘Shailja Gupta’. Apart from her original Holi inspired painting people could paint on an outlined canvas in their Holi colors giving it a unique character. This was a very interesting and an unusual concept. Every attraction possible from India was seen, only ‘bhang’ was missing which was for security reasons as I was told. 

People from all cultures were having fun together, even local Americans. There were photographers who probably captured the best moments even without setting a foot on our ‘Incredible India’. I felt very proud of my festival, seeing everyone participating and having fun on a common stage irrespective of what community they belonged to. I call this true Globalization!!!

Navneeta Khemka