Holi is a big spring festival in North India, usually celebrated by throwing colored water at friends and passers-by, and dusting people with "gulal" - colored powder - that looks prettier than it smells. You usually play it until you're tired, or noon, whichever comes first. It's loads of fun. Yesterday, when I stopped by an Indian grocery store and saw sacks of gulal, in brilliant reds and greens and yellows, I was quite nostalgic. I haven't played in years.
And then I visited AbsoluteWrite, and found my fellow-Clarionite Shweta had started a
virtual Holi fight. By the time I discovered it, it was too late for me to join in, but it captured the essence of the experience perfectly. I squirted some red water at Shweta, just for fun, and she returned a bunch of revellers playing holi on patient decorated elephants.
For Clarionites: Think WaterWars, but the water comes in pink and yellow and a brilliant green, and is punctuated by handfuls of chalk powder in colors more vivid than chalk has ever been. (Or check out the Holi thread - it's got pictures.)