Holi the colorful festival !

With an adieu to the arctic winters steps in spring with boisterous vehemence and brings forth the most popular and fun filled festival in India: HOLI. A festival adorned with innumerable shades is traditionally a harvest festival. The caravan of colors enfolds the spirit of fervor and felicity.

We being Indians cannot live without spices of life and festivals are the most fascinating spices which delights the taste buds of our life.

Music infuses hilarity to any celebration. Similarly holi has its rich collection of myriad range of songs. The incredible India with its folk songs on holi amplifies the vigour of celebration and simultaneously the bollywood holi tracks are sung aloud to enjoy the fiesta to its fullest.

However with the change in concepts and plot of contemporary cinema, holi songs have lost their way. The last popular bollywood contribution to holi comes from movies like ‘Waqt’ and ‘Delhi heights’. Though Aishwarya Rai can be seen dancing with colours in ‘Action replay’ but it hardly drenched the audiences. Amithabh Bachhan’s contribution should not be denied as his “holi khele raghuveera awadh me...” from ‘Baghbaan’ is indeed a treat to ears.

Peeping through the old collections of bollywood songs appears the milestones of bollywood holi collections. “Rang barse …”, “ang se agn lagaana sajan…”, “aaj na chodenge…”, “are ja re hat natkhat…”, and “holi aai se kanhai…” are a few songs which are heart throbbing and would ever remain gelled with holi. Though the reign of holi is being vanquished from bollywood but Hindi television soaps are not behind to take its full flavor.

Songs and dance alone cannot rock the floor in holi. A festival also has its economic effects as there can be no celebrations with its certain material requirements. Holi for sure is festival of colours but to play colours we need water guns or better say pichkaaris. And my dear friends market is stacked with all of it. However what we are supposed to notice is that “china” has been able to read the Indian mentality of going for the cheapest and saving the rest for doctor’s fees. The entire market is heaped with toxic colours and pichkaaris made up of low quality plastics which are without a doubt harmful for the tender kids. But we have no escape as kids would demand them for certain and we have no options available to meet the requirement in the same price. Local producers of holi colours and pichkaaris have taken their hands back for their market has been ruined with Chinese invasion.

Though suggestions are always given to play holi safely and that too with herbal colours but reality has its own chapter, where maximum Indian’s on their own festivals are drenched in Chinese colours.

The India’s pride Bollywood seems not to adhere much with holi but Chinese seems to enjoy the bucks they are earning. If the scenario continues our coming generations would tap there feet with Chinese holi songs and fill their belly with Chinese ‘Gujia’.

We should certainly hope that no day comes with such a dawn.

Richa Tiwari 
Student
B.A in Media Studies
University of  Allahabad