Happy Holi!

Today I found out how an Easter egg feels. I was dyed every color of the rainbow with powders, balloons filled with tinted water, paints and silly string until finally, at the end of the festivities, I looked like a Smurf who threw a white shirt in a load of colors. March 17h was Holi day, a grand celebration throughout India. The day represents so many things and is associated with so many legends that even natives are not sure how to describe it to foreigners. The legend told to us volunteers was the legend of Harika and Prahlad.

According to About.com...
The Legend of Holika
Holi is also associated with the Puranic story of Holika, the sister of demon-king Hiranyakashipu. The demon-king punished his son, Prahlad in a variety of ways to denounce Lord Narayana. He failed in all his attempts. Finally, he asked his sister Holika to take Prahlad in her lap and enter a blazing fire. Holika had a boon to remain unburned even inside fire. Holika did her brother's bidding. However, Holika's boon ended by this act of supreme sin against the Lord's devotee and was burnt to ashes. But Prahlad came out unharmed.

There is a more detailed version of the story here:
http://www.holifestival.org/legend-holika-prahlad.html

It is also a time to celebrate the coming of spring and to be thankful for what we have. Also, apparently, a time to pour buckets of freezing water with dye on poor, unsuspecting American girls. These dyes do not wash out easily, that's for sure- hours of scrubbing at my skin left me about one shade of blue lighter but the pink spots on my arm making me look as though I've come down with a mutant form of the chicken pox are still perfectly in tact.

Aside from tie-dying each other, we also had orientation today. We received a brief story of India and a lesson of Hindi language. After signing waivers, we were also told horror stories of volunteers being kicked out for having crazy anger attacks for not being fed ice cream and pizza and for smuggling marijuana into the country. People are insane. The only thing that would set off such ire in me would be if they DID feed us ice cream and pizza. I will take authentic chana masala any day!