Holi Hai!

Conversation on chat a few weeks prior.

Me: You're from Hyderabad, right?
D: Yup.
Me: Is Holi big there?
D: Oh yea! I mean, not as big as in the North but still pretty big.
Me: Awesome, thanks.

Today, 27th March, Holi. 

Where do we go to play Holi? No, we don't want to celebrate in some hotel. Yes, we know that it's not as big in the South but still! 

After breakfast, around 11 which is - as we know now - kind of late to play Holi, we have an auto take us to Charminar as someone confirmed that this is a good place for Holi. On the way there, we see coloured individuals and even groups but around Charminar itself, there is no play going on whatsoever. We are close to tears with disappointment and the sales people with their usual "Ks ks ks madam!" irritate the hell out of me. 

"Let's ask an auto driver", I suggest. M. walks up to the nearest one, he speaks decent English and promises to take us to the action (Begum Bazar, according to him). Off we go and upon arrival, we notice that, yes, there are quite a few colourful figures so I'll at least be able to take some nice photos if nothing else. The figures don't mind having their picture taken but we're not really part of the game yet. That is until M. decides to take out our own (ecological and non-toxic) Holi dyes and throw a handful in the general direction of my face and phone. Oh well, it wasn't the last one today and after a momentary shock, I reach into my own yellow and toss it right back at her. 

And that's how it took off .. I don't remember where all the next portions came from nor who threw them and how fast. After the blur of the next minutes, I take a breath to admire M.'s and my own colourful appearance. So it goes on .. "Happy Holi!!", colour dabbing on shoulders, wet colour thoroughly rubbing into cheeks, water sprinkling on head, carefully mixing with the powder to create a lasting mess and last but definitely not least throwing water balloons that - after an initial shock - are pleasantly refreshing. We sprinkled powder on everyone - humans, dogs, cows (ok, I did) - and left traces on everything - a pinch of powder on a motorbike, a pink handprint on the black of an auto rickshaw. 

At some point, we had run out of our own and then even the big bag of pink dye (gulaal), that some well-meaning strangers had thrusted into our hands. "We need new paint!", we decided, even though the actual game was practically over. But oh well, the seven heaps of bright colour - they even had turquoise! - were just irresistible, so we bought a few spoonfuls of each. Let's see what we'll use them for now.

Back at the hotel, the personnel was looking at us with a mix of pure horror and utter amusement. 'Happy Holi's came from all sides, while we pretended that there was nothing unusual at all going on ;-)

After sprinkling a lot of pink and a bit of everything else with every step, I decided to at least wash my face before meeting up with Mu. Bye bye blue, green, orange and yellow, hello very VERY persistent gulaal! Well, at least one could guess that there was a human face behind all the pink.

We spent a couple hours in a comfy little café, bringing each other up to date about the events of the last couple months and just having a relaxed time with cold coffee and snacks.

Returning "home", I decided that I should indulge in a shower after all. I admired my originally light green t-shirt from all sides before entering said shower, armed with soap and shampoo. The water that was running down me gave the impression that I was bleeding pink from a massive wound whereas the dye on my scalp and body didn't show much sign of diminishing. Not to worry, we're good at pretending to be normal anyway, so we bravely decided to eat in the (rather elegant) hotel's restaurant instead of calling the room service. 

The waiter was on the same track, he didn't acknowledge the obvious traces all over my face and neck at all while straight-facedly taking our orders and thanking M. for the honour of opening and pouring her coke.

Another employee was less discreet. He, cracking up, stated that we must have played Holi today. Yes, we confirmed, asking him if there was any secret for getting rid of the unmoving pink dye. No, we'd just have to shower a few times, after 3-4 showers, the colour would be gone, he said, still laughing. And meanwhile, we were clearly adding to his amusement although he laughingly denied that.

And finally even the waiter asked us about our adventure with colours. He himself didn't play but confirmed that it would take a number of showers to entirely get rid of the leftovers. Turning to me (M. had somehow managed to look nearly as human as before), "But until then you will look very beautiful. :)".

Shame that this beauty will pass with the pink ...
;-)