मर्यादा

Holi

We are all very busy making sure social media registered that we are celebrating holi. We are also making sure every friend and family should know that we wish them well and we are also celebrating holi. In this era of technological celebration, we have almost forgotten how to celebrate for ourselves again. We simply boil it down to receiving an external validation in form of like, comments or even emojis responses. Social media has value, not denying that but why does it still feel like something is missing, the festival isn’t quite it. So here is my minimalist and personal explanation for holi, hope you find it useful.

Poornima is the night before holi. In many part of India, this is also the holi but I will not start the debate now. Poornima or full moon has always been of significance in not just hindu culture but others as well. It is considered auspicious as moon is considered to be the planet controlling the activities of mind. You might be aware that the word lunatic meaning the irregular behaviour of mind is from lunar, the moon. Celebrating or offering prayers are a form of meditation and meditation is related to our mental and spiritual aspect. Tonight, when the moon is lit up and forming this aura around, according to hindu culture we gather by a bonfire. As we gather, we concentrate on all the negativity, all the burden, all the sorrows, grievances, anger and all the worries in life. With same intensity, we then throw them all in fire to burn to ashes. We do that process until we know, we have cleansed it all. We also offer thanks for all those experience and lessons, we sing and merry and let the fire vanish into ether as the night grows. Poornima being a night that enhances our mental activity, this cleansing especially performed in groups can have really deep effect on an individual’s wellbeing.

This process can also be exhausting of followed through with dance music and songs for night and so body needs a good night of sleep with nourished following day. 

Not that the ritual of poornima night is any less important, the day of holi is a day of universal happiness. While smearing the ashes from last night’s bonfire is traditional, use of color is more prevalent. Through participation in Holi,  a human makes him/herself reachable to other human being. We open our self-up to everybody and most importantly our physical being to vulnerabilities where anybody can attack us with color of their choice and paint in them. In return, they also offer themselves to us. It’s a way to take liberty, take charge, and leave behind what’s unnecessary and becoming one unit while staying ourselves.

That’s holi. Where you can become anybody you want, where you can dream in colors , where you can be as colorless and colorful as you might want. Holi is one of the most spiritual experience in traditions of festivals when we think about it. So with that, I wish you all a very fulfilling and peaceful holi.