Memories - I; Holi

I spent my childhood in a “small” (as compared to the cities I lived in thereafter) and quiet township in Rasayani, near Mumbai. I have been lucky to have spent the most important years of life there as everything was just perfect for a kid over there – huge playgrounds, swimming pool, river, hills around, school, market, the activities we used to do, and what not (I really hope every child has my kinda childhood)!!!


Well, this time around during those days used to be the most exciting time in the whole year..Yes, it was the time for Holi. Holi was celebrated in a grand way in Rasayani. The township, as all other townships had separate quarters (Type – 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on). So, each “Type” of quarters had their own Holi and celebrated it their own fashion. I have stayed in Type IV, for most of my years in Rasayani, and Type IV and Type V used to celebrate the festively jointly.

This used to be the time when we would have just finished writing our Unit Test - II exams and everyone would be looking for a good, nice break from the monotonous study (not that I ever concentrated much on that) routine. I usually fared well in these exams as I knew that I hardly had any chances left in the academic year to better my scores after the disaster in earlier two exams conducted. Annual exams would be conducted in the month of April, which meant that all the fun and frolic would have to be accomplished in this month, March, and for this festival, Holi!!!

Now, almost all of you know, Holi is celebrated for two days. Day one, we light a pyre, following the folklore, and the next day we play colors. We children were responsible for the first day, where we would arrange the pyre and the resources needed for the same. Preparations for this day would start over two weeks in advance of the D-day. Every day after school (our school used to get over at 1610hrs), we would gather around the Type IV bus stop (around 1630 hrs) to discuss the modus operandi for the day. Gathering resources was the major challenge that we faced every year. By resources here, I mean dry branches of tress, palm trees, twigs, grass (we had huge farmlands surrounding our township), and anything that can be burnt (safely), with minimum usage of flammable substances (petrol, kerosene and the likes). Plotting the sourcing area, managing the logistics of the resources, maintaining them at a place, and then securing them over there were some other challenges that we handled at a very early stage of our lives. Now, when I think backwards, I feel that it all involved supply chain management principles, but simplified at a child’s level of understanding (which stuns me today)! We would manage the huge dry branches of palm trees on our bicycles, going either single or double seat (which used to hardly happen as everyone wanted to contribute equally…LOL) atleast a couple of kms from the place of celebrations. Today, I fail to recall how we ever managed that huge thing on our bicycles (when carrying a bag of around 3 kgs on the bike seems challenging).

In the evening, there would be a stock-take of the booty collected by now, usually by the seniors of the gang. Days play used to take a back seat during these “busy” times of the year. So, by late evening, after it used to be dangerous to venture out for more resources, we used to sit around and discuss as to what needs to be done more. Finally, on the day of Holi, the seniors used to make a pyre out of the gathered stuff (ours used to be the biggest pyre by the way…) and everyone from the Type IV and V quarters were invited at a particular time at night.