The Holi(y) invasion

S Balakrishnan *

Holi festival is not celebrated in South India; Holi is an alien festival and culture to the South. However, because of the influx of people from across the Vindhyas, particularly the Marwaris since long, and now from Bihar & U.P., Holi is observed by these people in pockets of the Tamil society. However, of late there is a suspicion that Tamil Nadu is being systematically invaded by North Indians in a scheme to make T.N. a Hindi majority State.

One finds these people even in remotest, unexpected & unthinkable corners of the State! Attracted by the Holi’s gaiety, our children also indulge in it for the fun of it. In Chennai, Sowcarpet area is one such Marwari pocket where Holi is most vibrantly celebrated. So, the first time I got a chance even to watch Holi was in Andaman Islands in my 23rd year only. Just watched, not participated.

It was 1979 and Port Blair was a sleepy quaint little town getting busy, as if waking up from sleep, only whenever ships from mainland touched its shores, which could be once in ten days. Being a Mini India, in particular its capital town Port Blair, festivals of all religions and communities are observed. Luckily or unluckily I was down with slight fever on my first Holi day; hence the grand children of the landlady, Mrs. Rao, did not succeed in dragging me out to their revelry.

Don’t be taken in by the name Rao; inter-state, inter-community and inter-religion marriages are quite common in Andamans since Penal Settlement times. There was no choice hen; out of compulsion then, now it has become a welcome tradition of the Andamans. Hence the Andamans are called Mini India, an exemplary example for national integration.

So the gang of Guppy, Ranin, Goldy, Dimple, Dolly, Mini, Anju along with the pet dog Cheru just applied a little bit of colour and allowed me to go scot free. As a novice I was not aware of the custom of offering sweets to those visiting one’s house to play holi. The gang ‘warned’ that next year I should offer lots of sweets & chocolates too. To compensate this failure I photographed their merriment.

The next year (1980), Holi full moon was a month ahead, in early March itself; there was no escape this time and I too indulged, letting my hair and beard loose. It was fun watching people pouring buckets of colour water on each other. However, in the pretext of clicking the revelry I kept a safe distance from the bucket challenge. It would have been really a tough job washing the colour off my beard!

You see, as a bachelor away from home, I was my own master and I had let the beard and hair grow as ‘long’ as it wished. I do not remember Holi being observed in Cuttack, my second place of posting (1980-83), at least not in a very gusto manner. The same goes with Gangtok (1983-88), my next station, which has its Buddhist and Nepali traditions. After a decade of outstation postings when I returned to Chennai in 1988 it seemed the scene had changed a bit down here.

Holi has made its incursion. Chennai being an ever-expanding cosmopolitan city this can’t be helped. But the Hindutva forces seem to forcibly thrust north Indian culture here in the garb of protecting, preserving, promoting and expanding Hinduism, their version of Hinduism. That was how Ganesh Chathurthi was introduced here as a public festival to combat you-know-who.

In Tamil Nadu, all the religious festivals are invariably observed only at homes and temples and never in public pandals with blaring loud speakers. This was changed by the Hindutva forces by introducing the Maharashtra-style public pandal concept in Ganesh Chathurthi. Now, every year, hundreds of Ganesh statues are worshipped in public pandals which is not only alien to Tamil Nadu but also a public nuisance in many ways and pollutant of water bodies.

Hope the forces do not introduce public pandal worship during Durga Puja, Kali Puja (Diwali), Kartik Purnima, etc., etc. The Bengalis living in Chennai do put up a few pandals here & there during Durga Puja, which number is increasing year by year. Hope it does not end up the Ganesh Puja way.

Oh, Ma Durga, be merciful! Our visit to Manipur during Holi in 2016 was a lifetime experience. The Vaishnavaite Manipuris call it Yaoshang and enthusiastically celebrate it in a very traditional manner. The five-day Yaoshang beautifully encompasses religious, cultural, sports and social activities. WOW! Just unforgettable!

In the classical and graceful Manipuri dance, ‘Raas Leela’ that depicts Krishna playing holi with Gopikas is an integral part. Now, it is my turn as Krishna to play Holi with Gopikas in the Braj Bhumi’s Mathura. But they have all gone hiding!