Happy Holi!

Holi is a quintessential celebration of spring, imported from India. People gather to beautify each other with brilliantly dyed powders, just when color is beginning to return to the world after a grey winter. It's tremendous fun, and we wouldn't miss it for the world! 

This year we headed to the Hindu Jain Temple in Monroeville for their public Holi celebration. The occasion began with a gigantic feast. Then there was a cultural program, opened with a lovely prayer sung by a teen boy. After that, dancers took their turns setting the stage on fire. Oftentimes when you go to see young kids perform, if you don't know the kids you won't get much out of it. These kids were different. They were having a terrific time, having their moment in the spotlight in drop dead gorgeous costumes, and they were fantastic. After stern warnings of "please do not come back in the building after playing Holi!", we went outside with our bags of color. We were very lucky to get a perfect sunny day. Their Holi celebration was not the insane color throwing frenzy that we are very much used to.  Instead, people would approach us and wish us Happy Holi while patting color onto us. Boy, it is a lot less awkward to play Holi with strangers without having to attack them! We had an absolute blast. We were also surprised to see enough people not obviously of Indian heritage there that we did not at all feel like we stuck out. That would have been countered anyway by everyone's warm welcome and high spirits. Maybe word is getting out in western PA that playing Holi is great fun!