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The Never Ending Holi

by Geetashree Chatterjee
(New Delhi)

A Surge of Colours, Happiness & Hope

Dawn played its soft flute as the night arranged its dark spread in neat and tidy folds. The sun peeped in from the East, its golden visage aglow in splendid sheen.

I woke up to another day. But this day was special. It was the day of colours, joy, fun and frolic. It was Holi! Like every Holi, even this day, echoed in my heart the beautiful cadence of His Love.

Soon the rowdy crowd would be out on the streets singing, dancing, teasing and splurging the passers-by with powdered colours - abeer, gulaal - water balloons and buckets of coloured liquids. They would knock on every closed door to open wide, bow and touch the feet of the elders with a blotch of red or pink, to show respect, hug the young ones and smudge their pristine clothes with motley of colours and compel the householders, resisting the game, to join them on the road. No one should remain indoors, confined to their homestead. It’s time to transcend all man-made bounds. It’s time to rejoice and win over friends as well as foes. It’s time to renounce pain and isolation. It’s time to connect with spring, the Queen of all seasons, symbolizing the fount of life!

Soon the faces of men, women and children would be unrecognizable as they would paint each other red, green, yellow and purple. Soon the ladies would bring out mounds of methais on shining plates and smother the visitors, who’d come to play Holi, with their effusive hospitality. All around would be a picture of fraternal fellow feeling, gaiety, laughter, giggles and whoops of joy. And with the day’s end, as the shadows lengthened, everyone would return home in an exuberant mood, humming a soft note, or smiling in hope, anticipating a more delightful Holi, in the years to come.

However, no Holi is brighter, more colourful, more fun-filled than the Holi that the Lord plays with His devotees. Every shade that He splashes is so vibrant - be it the sun-shine yellow of hope and optimism, be it the serene sky blue of eternal faith, be it the dark blossom red of happiness and joy, be it the meadow green of creativity , be it the opaque blackness of the night, incapacitating the senses with mindless fear, alarm, trauma and the sinking feeling of insecurity and irrevocable loss - every shade is perfect in its own way, every shade colours our life in equal measures, every shade lends variety and purpose to existence and every shade smudges us with newer emotions and expectations.

Life, my friends, is the biggest and never-ending game of varied colours - Holi in its true sense - where we lose ourselves in maddening ecstasy and equally abysmal gloom, oscillate between certainty and uncertainty, take the wrong turns sometimes, to ultimately find the correct path and the right direction.

His palette is infinite!

We are perpetually in the playful mode, whether we realize it or not, engrossed in a game, designed and engineered by an Unknown Administrator. A symphony of exquisite notes composes our lives, while the Invisible Conductor deftly orchestrates the flow. Jingle, without stop, the bells of our anklets to the steps of a dance choreographed by the Infinite Kid.

His infant fingers feel us, twirl & twist us around in a never ending spin, calm and soothe our tired forms when the play comes to an end and break the mould for good when there's no more fun left in the game, so that the shapeless residuals can again be adroitly re-used, re-shaped and re-structured for another bout of endless play.

That's how the game has always been and always will be...

Till such time the horizon is aglow,
We all shall play to perfection the Holi of Life
To the beat of the drums & tunes of His songs
To the clamour of our hearts & rhythm of His choice
And the colours shall eternally flow...

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Sep 02, 2012
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Geetashree... ..
by: Sneha

Dear Geetashree,

I love the wonderful metaphor that resonates throughout your write ... I admire your spirituality, am sure it keeps you sane amidst maddening crowds.

Sneha

Jun 28, 2013
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The Never Ending Holi
by: Pushpa Raghram

Enjoyed reading " The Never Ending Holi".

The words, "His infant fingers fees us, twist and twirl us ... "
are so meaning full.

Lord Purandara Dasa has enjoyed the childhood of Sri Krishna and has written so many songs about the same in kannada language. His songs are so heartfelt and descriptive, that when we hear such devotional songs, we will be taken to His time and place. We forget for a while, where we are.

Thanks for sharing a very meaningful writing.

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