Playing Holi in Los Angeles

Yesterday was Holi, a very colorful festival celebrating spring and I was there, all ready, and I had an absolute blast.

Basically it is a day when you get to play with colors and throw colored powder or colored water on each other.

Here are a few of my pictures.

Getting ready:

All loaded up with an evil look:

Waiting for the prey:

Got her:

Hand to hand combat:

Getting my dad:

A blast was had by all!

There is an interesting story about the significance of Holi and how the festival got its name. I have heard that story may be about 1000 times. Apparently, when I was little, my dad would tell me this story every day. Here is a synopsis of the story. There was a demon named Hirnakashyap and he prayed to God Brahma and Brahma offered him one wish. Hirnakashyap said he wanted to “live for ever”. Brahma replied that he can’t grant him that wish, but Hirnakashyap can choose the way he wanted to die. So Hirnakashayp came up with a brilliant idea. He wished:

I don’t want to die by a man or an animal
I don’t want to die by a fish or a fowl
I don’t want to die by a weapon or a poison
I don’t want to die inside or outside
I don’t want to die in the sky or on the ground

He figured he had everything covered.

[Of course, when my dad told me this story, we would add a new thing everyday; like
I don't want to die wearing shoes and I don't want to die bare-feet]

With this promise from Brahma, Hirnakashyap became very powerful.

Thanks to my cousin Devina for getting me the super soaker.