Happy Holi everyone! Katherine and I are currently traveling during my last week in India. We've been learning what life is like in other parts of this diverse country.
Today, Katherine is still recovering from our initial round of sickness a week ago so I had to adventure on my own. I thought I could escape the inevitable paint throwing celebration in the quiet town of Darjeeling but I was wrong. After taking a morning walk skirting the edges of gangs of brightly colored children with hands full of colored powder and quickly dodging down alternative alleys, the boys below caught up with me.
I was trapped between two garden walls. Their eyes lit up when they saw me... One of the smaller boys had mixed his colored powder with water, giving me a slimy green beard. After my continued protests the older boys helped to pry his hands from my face as they moved on to their next victim.
Because now I was marked, other children joined in the fun splashing me with pinks and yellows! In the end it was great fun. All the locals grinned when they saw my paint colored face and wished me a Happy Holi! The children have a week off school for this celebration so I'm not quite sure when it will be safe to go outside.
Because now I was marked, other children joined in the fun splashing me with pinks and yellows! In the end it was great fun. All the locals grinned when they saw my paint colored face and wished me a Happy Holi! The children have a week off school for this celebration so I'm not quite sure when it will be safe to go outside.
On a more serious note, the town of Darjeeling has really impressed Katherine and I with its commitment to creating a socially aware community. For the Holi celebration a group of school children made posters on many issues women face in development (also one of our Model United Nations topics!). The posters were hung like Nepali prayer flags in the town square so the community could read about human trafficking, domestic violence, and equality.
