India

Feb 26

The day had moved so fast. As I stepped into the shower and saw the waterfall of colors pour out of my hair like a hundred melted freeze pops being dumped out, I could finally think about all that had happened.

The day started like any other as I grabbed my bag and told my driver, Pingo, I was ready. If you were to look in this bag though, you would be able to tell that this day was going to be a bit more “colorful” then normal. My bag contained the standard hand sanitizer, camera, and packet of Hindi vocab. There was also a smaller bag that contained the lesson for the day. Four bags of colored powder sat waiting for their turn to be dumped, chucked, of smeared on the faces of anyone in the holders reach.

When I entered the class the children were all waiting anxiously for the day to begin. I sat down as they all whispered me over to secretly see their small stash of paint. Monday will be the Hindu holiday Holi, but even in this Muslim community the children will be celebrating it today (Friday). Holi is one of the biggest Indian holiday and even though it is really one day, it actually last about a whole week. You will really see this if you go to the market during this time. Within a few steps you will hear the snaps of water balloons as they spray all around you. Look up and you will see kids from the roof aiming for you. As the days get closer to Monday the water will start to turn to color. It gets so bad that many people have to paint after because of the stains from the balloons.

Our celebration at PappanKalan wouldn’t be this crazy, but it would be pretty crazy! The class started to run as soon as they saw me opening the paint. “AHH!! No Sirji!” they laughed. When the families in the houses around hear the commotion the came out to see the colors of dust exploding in the air. Within five minutes all my students were covered completely in blues, greens, reds, and pinks. They were spotless compared to me though. I was instantly bombarded by powder as soon as I started throwing. It wasn’t just my students though; it was everyone in the community who had access to paint. My glasses covered and hair bogged down with dust I continued to charge the children. When it was all done was when I was truly happy. I looked around at the dozens of kids covered in paint hugging and laughing with each other. I looked around at the community that had all crowded the alleys and doorways to see the show, everyone smiling and happy to look completely ridiculous. I stood in the middle of it all- looking twice as ridiculous and I knew happiness. I knew community and love. I had seen the colors of life join together these people. I had learned what Holi was really about.

The class was let out early and the children laughed and skipped home to show their parents their lovely new faces. At this, I walked over to the sewing class for a more relaxed celebration. We all gathered in a circle and the girls of course laughed at my absurd looking face. We the laughter died out we all stood up to put the symbolic Holi paint in dots on each other’s foreheads. We smiled as we spread the paint saying, “Happy Holi” to one another. I knew things weren’t going to be this simple though. These girls are very shy and very well behaved, but they also like to laugh and have a good time. So as some of the girls came up to dot my forehead they “missed” and landed piles in my hair, smearing it right down to the routes. Seema, the sewing teacher, really started the party as she rubbed two handfuls of pink powder all in my face. Before long, the girls who were laughing at my face, looked exactly as I did.

When we finally ran out of paint I said my last “Happy Holi”s and headed to the car. As much as I love coming here I was definitely excited about this five-day weekend I was about to enter into. As I looked out the window on the ride home I saw the faces light up as they feasted their eyes on not only a white person, but a painted white person. I got to smile back as a saw everyone from kids coming from school to old ladies all covered in this paint.

The color continued to stream from my hair for over ten minutes. I knew one shower wasn’t going to get all this out as I picked my scalp to find thick clumps built under my fingernails. It reminded me of coming home from the beach and how you never seen to be able to get that last bit of sand out of your hair. For me though, finding the sand was always a reminder of a great vacation. Similarly, these colors will also remind me of great people.  I hope it never all washes out.

Rajkumar

My class plus a few!

The kids getting ready to get their cotton candy

Sonu playing with Holi toys