I was lucky enough to experience Holi festival in India and boy, what an experience that was! Our India trip happened because one of our very good friend was tying the knot. His wedding was taking place in Mumbai and during the same week as Holi festival. That kicked right in, there was no way I was going to India in the same week as Holi and not attend Holi.

So there, that’s how I went for Holi in India.

The Holi festival, celebrated since centuries ago has been passed down generations via different cultures/sub-cultures and been interpreted many ways. There are many variations of the Holi festival across the globe but they all have one thing in common, which is “playing with colours”.

As for the origins of the festival, it has been linked to a few legends and some other traditions. All in all, it is deemed an important festival for Hindus, welcoming the arrival of spring. What I really loved about Holi is that it is a festival that celebrates equality. It is a time where social codes are broken, disregarding beliefs, gender, race, etc. Everyone is smeared with the same colour, equalizing all and symbolizing unity. A brief but precious moment that is important in this day and age.

In Mumbai, we were told that Holi festival was not celebrated along the streets like what I had imagined. In fact, it is carefully organised and celebrated by a local community or a neighbourhood. I’m not sure about the rest of India, but this was how it is in Mumbai. So if you’re thinking of heading to Mumbai for the Holi fest, make sure you’d have somebody to take you around and arrange your festival participation.

The Experience

The Holi festival was nothing like I’ve experienced before. We all dressed in white, hoping to paint ourselves in full bright colours. Mostly we danced and painted everyone around us, on the face, hands and body. We did that for a good 3 hours or so. The music was traditional but upbeat and the crowd was enthusiastic. We played with “gulal” or coloured powders and flower petals. We threw it in the air, filling the skies with bright clouds of coloured powders.

At the end of the festival, each of us turned out a masterpiece! Although covered with sweat, we laughed and danced with a full heart.

It was my first time attending Holi and I must say that I’m one of the lucky ones who’s had a good experience. I’ve read about the bad ones and some may deter you from participating. With that, I’m determine to let you in a few pointers so that your first Holi will not turn out to be a disaster.

Protect

• Your skin is very vulnerable to the chemical powders. Oiling up will provide good layering on your skin to prevent contact with the chemicals. The best oil to use is coconut oil as it is non-occlusive.
• Apply a good amount of toner and moisturizer on your face as a layer of protection from the chemicals. Toner helps to keep your pores closed to prevent any damages by the chemicals
• Oil your hair well so that the colours don’t stick and can be easily washed off later.
• Protect your face (eyes and mouth) at all times and avoid being a prey to hooligans
• If you have skin allergies, avoid playing Holi at all

Clothing

• White is a good choice to have all the colours painted brightly onto you. Good to maximum clothing on as well.
• Use clothes that you might not want to wear anymore as the colours might take ages to wash off or in some cases, never washed off.

Natural “gulal”

• Try to use natural or organic colours.
• Avoid those glitter powders as they contain mica and can do serious damage to your eyes and skin
• I was not told before but opt to use the pink/red colours more as they are easily washed off compared to the yellow/green/orange colours.

While Holi festival is vividly celebrated across India, it should be noted that Holi is welcomed in many parts of the world, some with a modern adaptation to it. In other countries you may find that the “playing with colours” turned it into a musical festival and others into a marathon.

I enjoying attending world festivals and this is definitely one I’m never going to forget. This vibrant and colourful festival ended, left me feeling grateful, hopeful and over the moon.