Holi

My friend Hare tells us that Holi is a metaphoric recreation of Krishna at play in a garden. If this is the case, Krishna parties like a rock star.
Here's the breakdown: we get into the office and do the usual take care of business. We have some important meetings that will set a tone for things I have to do tomorrow and then it's up to the roof to see what the score is. Everyone is gathered and milling around. The keening of a Hindi song plays over the loudspeakers as I walk through the group over to Rosemary to see what's going on. Doing so, I pass through one group into the clearing of the center floor. Rose takes two quick steps towards me, her face as innocent as a lamb's.
Then it's WHAP! Right in the mush with a handful of red powder!
The place goes nuts and Holi is on. I do the logical thing and grab myself a handful from a nearby table and take off after her. She runs gamely but I whap her one and pretty much the whole place goes crazy, smashing each other in the face with dyes and powders.
This goes on for a long time. There must be 150 people on the roof, each giving as good as they got, powder flying everywhere. We burn through four or five large bags of the stuff until everyone is somewhere between red-brown and purple as all the colors run together. It's a chance to whack your buddy, whack your boss, whack that girl down the hall you are too shy to talk to.

Then when we are out of powder, the music starts. It's uptempo Indian stuff; Ohm, Shanti Ohm and that sort of thing. At first no one will dance, so Rose tells me it's up to me. Always willing to make a fool of myself, I break out onto the floor and shake it around a bit. Soon the others join me and it's a painted dance party on the roof.

Rosemary does the pop and lock, breaks out the hipsway and moonwalks out. My other teammates aren't as dancey and hug the wall, but RF and I represent and the rest of them show us how it's done Bangalore Style. I gamely try out their dances, and they politely ape mine back.

Afterwards, they all smile and congratulate me on my great dancing. I realize that this mostly translates as being pleased that I tried to fully participate in their traditions, not that my dancing was any good at all. In fact, I think they think I'm rather silly and an object of humor, but I don't care. I had a great time and danced because I was happy.

Now: I must say: Holi was great, but sitting at work all day afterwards was kind of a bummer. Holi clearly needs to be the end of the day, not the beginning. Plus, my advice to you is don't eat that stuff. I took a big mouthful and felt off all night. Being at work, we also didn't get to participate in the traditional Holi drink, which has been described to as somewhat potent. Maybe next year. Happy Holi!