Holi

Besides being Pesach, today is also an Indian festival called Holi. I'm not sure what, exactly, this particular holiday commemorates, but I sure know how!! Actually, I was warned about this day before I came to India.

A couple of days ago, I went into Dharamsala, which is more Indian than Macleod Ganj (which is more Tibetan). All the spice stores were displaying huge sacks of brightly colored powders (spices?). Today, those powders are being displayed on the faces of most people walking down the road.

Small groups of boys and young men are roaming the streets, bearing red flags on long poles, armed with small plastic bags filled with powder, and smearing them on whoever passes by. Or throwing fistfuls at anyone close enough to get hit.

I took refuge at a coffee house that overlooks the main square, and watched the boys standing around, looking for victims. People getting off busses with green faces, pink hair and blue clothes (that used to be white) - even the cows have been colored red, yellow - all of them so bright, they would probably glow in the dark. No-one is spared. I've been lucky so far (I only got a red smear at the center of my forehead), but the day isn't over yet. The definition of "Hell's Angels" has been changed here - groups of hot-rods riding in twos or threes on motor scooters, with glowing faces (orange, purple, what-have-you) not to mention their shirts - the driver revs up the motor, and the guy in back holds on to a fistful of color to throw at whoever they pass.

And I'm told that the display here is quiet and refined in comparison to what goes on in Delhi (aren't I glad I'm not in Delhi).

Today I am also saying good-bye to Tsultrim, my Tibetan English student - amazing how attached you can become to a person in ten days. After trying to convince me that traveling alone in India is dangerous, and that Uttarkashi is not a nice place (so maybe I should stay here for the rest of the month), he draped a white silk banner around my neck, which is something I've seen them do to their spiritual leaders during ceremonies, so I'm really feeling honored.

This evening, it's back on a bus, for another fun-filled night of traveling. Come to think of it, considering the excitement I had last time I took a bus down this mountain - doing it at night is not a bad idea - that way, I can't see all the way down....

So much for now,Happy Pesach, Happy Holi, Happy Easter - Happy Life
to each and every one of you!!