Holi 2011

We started celebrating Holi a little early this year - at the kids' school last weekend. It was a beautiful, sunny day filled with kite flying, tug-of-war, food, and of course colors. Holi is the Hindu spring festival of colors - a fun celebration of the start of the warm season. It's a day to share in joy and laughter with your family and neighbors.

We all tried our hand at kite flying - the kites are simple diamond-shapes made of wood and paper. As a result they have a pretty short shelf-life, but if you can get them up high enough to catch the steady breeze they will stay aloft all day! Evan probably had the best results of getting one airborne with a few of his friends.

There were several matches of tug-of-war. The kids went first - Boys against girls, then it was Moms vs Dads. In both cases it was a draw.

We enjoyed traditional Indian snacks of papri chaat, aloo tiki, samosa, pao bahaji. There was also hot dogs, chicken burgers and freshly made ice cream.

Then the real fun started... we went to the designated "zone" to for "playing colors" and cut loose. Old clothes are recommended. Throw in a mix of dried colors (of course we used all natural, herbal varieties), bags and bags of flower petals - reds, oranges, and whites. And long pichkaries. These are large pistons for shooting water and liquid colors. The longer you stay in the melee, the darker you become... soaking wet and usually a deep shade of purple, or in this case, orange.

Evan stayed on the fringes so kept pretty clean, but Audrey Lesa and I mixed it up pretty well with the international crowd of kids, moms and dads. A highly recommended way to kick off the warm weather.

Happy Holi!