festival of colors

The people in the Capital are a lot more serious about their holi celebrations than those in the Himalayas. The main reason is because it's still really, really cold in the mountains in March, and here, it feels very spring-like. Holi is celebrated during a full moon, so last year it was Mid-March. We celebrated with Priya and her family, and we used only powdered dye, and then raced back inside to change and wrap up, because it started to hail. But we watched on TV how the crazies in the Capital were dancing around as people hosed them down in dye and water.

Well this year, we got to see that for ourselves! Not that we ourselves are celebrating, but I've been outside a bit watching everything going on. All week, we've been dodging water balloons! I've only been hit once, from one of the neighbor boys across the street, but husband has already been hit 3 times! The boys (and we've even seen girls!) will hang out on their balconies, waiting for innocent passers-by to pelt with water balloons from their vantage point! My friend, Jaya, told me to not even think of going outside on the actual day of holi! Here are pics of the snipers in action:I took this right before he dumped a bucket of water on some kids!

Our next door neighbors' son. Notice the water gun, poised in the air!

But this morning, when I heard screams and shouts in the park behind our house, I just couldn't resist. I thought I'd climb to the roof to get some pics, but when I snuck up there, the boy who lives in our building was up there, filling up water balloons. Luckily he didn't see me, so I quietly retraced my steps. I opened our back gate and took a few pics before retreating pretty quickly when our next door neighbor came running up with a water gun:

Then I watched from the garden as brightly colored boys and men walked up and down our street. Here are the pics I've taken so far today as I've cowered under roofs and awnings, like a spy in a paintball game: