A couple of weekends ago, I got the front seat of counter-cultural assimilation in our neighbourhood ━ Holi festival happening in full gear.
Holi, a festival celebrated widely in India, marks the arrival of spring on the last full moon day of the Hindu lunar calendar. The spring festival is better known as the festival of colour as the day is celebrated with brightly spring-coloured powder thrown everywhere, including at others. Holi celebration is associated with beginning, happiness and hope – making it one of the most joyful festivals in the world.
Despite my Indian heritage and having lived in Singapore, with close to 10% population with Indian ancestry for the best parts of my 20s, it was my first time experiencing the Holi Festival. Before, I had only seen Holi ━ and plenty of it ━ in Bollywood movies. So I found it funny (and endearing) to finally celebrate Holi in Melbourne, surrounded by the locals who embraced it completely.
Holi Festival Melbourne
Barkley Street was closed for half a day. However, there were stalls – varying from Indian stuff like Indian snacks and henna art to more general-but-still-fun things like cotton candies and house plants.
There were arcade games, dance performances and ice cream trucks. Fafa and I opted to be the bystander, for the most part, watching it from the wine bar, smashing boxes of oysters while sipping bubbles.
South Indian Take on Holi
Although Holi is celebrated throughout Indian culture, the celebrations differ in each region ━ in the Southern part of India. For example, it’s observed not with colourful powder but with turmeric water ━ , splashed everywhere and to your loved ones. But, again, I know this is only based on the old Tamil movies I watched in the 90s (which still need to be fact-checked).
Fafa told me later that day that he felt lucky that we live in such an inclusive neighbourhood. It made us feel like a part of the community almost immediately. I echoed his sentiment.
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