At SFBS, Holi is a wonderful day of merrymaking and a fun-filled festival celebration. This momentous year 2022 Holi falls on Friday,the 18th of March. Days before the festival, people start gathering wood and combustible materials for the bonfire in parks, free community centres, near Hindu temples and other open-sided spaces. On top of the pyre is an effigy to signify Holika who tricked Prahalada into the fire. Inside homes, people stock up on pigments, food, party drinks and festive seasonal foods. After this, A bonfire is lit in the evening to signify Holi Dhahran as a triumph of good over bad and people dance and sing merrily around the fire and enjoy the cultural rituals of drinking baang raas and other great food fit for a party. In North and Western India, Holi frolicking and celebrations begin in the morning after the Holika bonfire is in ashes. Children and young people form groups armed with dry colours, coloured pint solution and water guns (pichkaris), water balloons filled with coloured water, and other creative means to colour their overall targets. Traditionally, several washable natural plant-derived colours such as turmeric, neem and kumkum were used, but now water-based commercial pigments are increasingly used.All colours are used. Everyone in open areas such as streets and parks is game, but inside homes or at doorways only dry powder is used to smear each other’s face, like how it’s shown in the movies. People throw colours and get their targets completely coloured up. It is like a fun water fight but with coloured water. People take utter delight in spraying coloured water on each other. By late morning, everyone looks like a canvas of colours. This is why Holi is given the name “Festival of Colours. Groups sing and dance, some playing drums and dholak,hilariously have fun with their fellow gangs. In the lovely Braj region around the city of Mathura, in north India, the whole festivities may last more than a week. The traditional rituals go beyond playing with a multitude of colours, and also include a day where men go around with some shields and women have the right to playfully beat them on their shields with sticks as a way of novelle yet traditional courtships. Holi is ultimately a day of celebration even for non Hindus as we at SFBS recall the words of St Francis who said that all celebration must be fondly celebrated, hinting that celebration of all religion must be embraced and be taken as a moment of joy gifted to us from the Almighty. Our patron saint Francis once famously invited several non Christians to a Christmas to break bread with him. This is how Lord Jesus Christ too would have done as the voice and the path of God are one and the same. It is with great pride, SFBS proudly present a celebration event in commemoration to Holi festival. So on this fantastic day of absolute celebration, we here at SFBS extend our warm courteous hands as we wish you a very happy and a safe Holi.! May the bright colours throw hues of happiness to you!
