Holi festival was never celebrated with much pomp at my parent’s place except for the fact that we as kids were more concerned about the colors of Holi. However, today when I saw children screaming and playing around in society, it literally made me nostalgic.
When the festival of colors would be around the corner, my brother and I would start with our arrangements because it was a holiday to remember. These beautiful childhood Holi memories really made our life colorful, but I feel sad about the fact that we can’t revisit those days in our adulthood.
Treasured ChildHood Holi Memories
1. Digging Out Old Clothes
You might find it funny after reading this, but yes, we would hunt for our old clothes. People give away old clothes, but we preserved them for Holi. My brother was and remains to be systematic by arranging the clothes properly, but I was a nuisance.
I would either pull them all out from the wardrobe or lay them on the floor. It wouldn’t end here, but I would anger my mom to the highest peak to not only clean the mess but also to choose my clothes. It is funny now, but in those days, I’ve had my share of bashing from my mom!
2. Shopping of Holi Colors and Pichkaris
This was our favorite activity. We would accompany our mom to the market and buy Holi color powder, pichkaris (water guns), and water balloons. I hated water balloons because my brother would hit me hard, but they were purely mandatory.
My brother and I would then fight over the water guns – size, shape, but our mom would rescue us from the confusion. Gulal was our favorite color but yes, we have bought and played with silver and golden colors too.
The best part – there was never unnecessary bickering about buying organic colors for Holi or knowing the gulal making process, etc. Rather, we would buy natural colors for Holi and our mother was an expert in choosing the best for us.
3. Holi Dahan
Now that we were done with our shopping, we would attend the function of Holi Dahan. Our society would hold a special celebration by lighting a huge bonfire called Holika with ingredients like dry cow dung cake, grass, sugar, gulal, flowers, etc., to commemorate this festival.
My mom was a regular in performing pooja of Holika. The ladies would sing mesmerizing Holi songs and we kids would dance around it. This particular event would bring all the society members together, despite their differences.
4. Applying Creams and Oil From Head To Toe
Finally, it was the day of playing with colors. This one particular day, we were allowed to take showers very late. Our mother enthusiastically would make all the arrangements – keeping the water ready, keeping pichkaris in place, and so on and so forth.
However, before that, we had a strict warning to apply oil/creams on our bodies because our mom was very cautious about our skin.
5. Drooling Over Puranpoli
Puranpoli was a hit in those days because we had no workout routines or diet. Puranpoli with milk and ghee, katachi amti, rice, and basundi / sweet thickened milk was a feast to remember and cherish.
6. Dancing On The Tunes Of Hit Holi Songs
Who doesn’t like to dance to the tunes of evergreen hit songs? In those days, TV especially Doordarshan, and radio were our only companions for entertainment.
All-day, both these mediums would play super hit Holi songs from Hindi movies that were foot-tapping as well as mesmerizing.
7. Water Conservation
My mom has been very vigilant when it comes to water usage and she continues to practice even now. So, our mom would fill only 1-2 buckets and we kids stringently had to adjust with that quantity.
We had an extra water pipe too, but that was strictly prohibited. And it was permitted only if we were a huge group, but that too with a very limited force.
I am feeling so proud, that my mom has been observant since then! Love you Ma for this!
8. Flaunting Our Colourful Faces
Finally, after the colorful festival, it was time to flaunt those colors in school. Brighter the color, more the popularity! In fact, the intensity of the colors decided our level of enjoyment, especially on the ears and face.
However, in today’s time colors are a big NO-NO, especially on the face, but at that time, “daag acche the” (stains were good)!
On a parting note
This is how colorful our childhood Holi memories were! We enjoyed it to the core and our parents made sure that they cater to our every need!
Not just this, but they also made sure to impart knowledge about festivals and celebrations. These were our memories and it was no less than a joyride. Sometimes I wish, I could bring back those old days!
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