Holi 2017

A lot of folks celebrated Holi last weekend. I had just got back from Asia and was very tired, not to mention going through tooth ache. So we were very happy to celebrate Holi this weekend with friends.

Eveyone was colored.. we saw Indians, Chinese, White folks, Hispanic folks, black folks. . . the pets.. and we pulled in the cops to play Holi as well and they were nice and got colored by the kids! 

There were a 1000+ people in Foster city and the gang went and had a fun time with colors and jumped around to music from the DJ.

Here are a few pictures that just show how big this was.. 

 

and the one shot that made my day of the 200+ taken over two hours..

Happy Holi everyone! May this year bring you a feeling of oneness with everyone around you.. When you are all colored in such hues, you realize what true equality is and happiness is in sharing love!

Today total strangers came and put colors on me and let me put colors on them.. we gave a smile, hugs and wished Happy Holi !!

As long as there is love, there is hope!

The mighty Ganges

My fondest memories in Banaras are from two places..

The IT-BHU Campus and areas surrounding it and the Hanuman Ghat area, which is like a little Madras within Banaras.

It was fantastic to go back to the Ghat and take a dip in the Ganges on a quiet morning! It is frozen in time.

When the streets are 4 feet wide and you can only access interior areas by bicycle, the place does remain unchanged over time! Even cows and bulls passing each other within the four feet feel the traffic jam!

Some photos..

This place had all the old folks gather at 8PM every night for a prayer. I used to tag along with the gang for the prayer and the prashad that followed..

Wide streets with lot of Tamil folks !

It was so much fun to watch the kids navigate a Banaras galli, avoiding the dogs, cows, cow dung on the floor and the odd moped or bicycle at "speeds" through the narrow lane with a loud honk!

The Hanuman temple brought back so many memories as well. The mighty river Ganga was in full flow.

My parents wanted me to get them some Ganga jal(water) in a bottle. People in India from Brahmin households usually have a bottle of water from the Ganges in their Pooja shelf. When some auspicious event happens, they sprinkle the Ganga water as it is considered holy. Also when someone dies, they pour a little bit of Ganga water into the dead persons mouth.

When dipping the small water bottle (courtesy of the spice jet flight) into the ganges along the edge of the Ghat steps, what I got was more like "Ganga Gel" than "Ganga jal" and chances were if someone was not yet dead, pouring this into their mouth would definitely seal their fate!

Had to wade a few steps in to get the flowing water to do any cleaning, but clean it did, the mind and the body!

There is something to be said when it comes to saying a prayer to the Sun and having a dip in the Ganges.

Words cannot explain that experience.

You have to do it to realize it!

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