Holi 2019

HOLI HAI! BEFORE CELEBRATING

We had a colorless Holi this year. In fact, it was the cleanest and quietest celebration in town today. Not a speck of colour was applied on anybody.

Banoo Apa treats us to litchi drink

Instead, we celebrated by sharing a lot of love and fresh air.
But Bijoy Gupta had different ideas for today. He was planning to get his “music deck” from home and dance with gay abandon in the Garden till someone scared the life out of him.
“I was told that Yamraj (the lord of death) will beat you black and blue if you celebrate Holi when there’s death in your family,” he said taking a dig at Shekhawat.
“You deserve to be beaten up badly,” Shekhawat shot back.
“No-no-no… you have no idea,” Gupta continued. “Yamraj beats people with a big bone. He chews one end of the bone and thrashes you with it continuously.

Rakhee Bansi and Vandana Kankanwar join the celebration

Believe me, it hurts a lot. That is why I wanted you to play Holi -- even if you were to be the only one in the Club to do so.”
Shekhawat got the hint and ignored Gupta from then on. But Gupta was relentless. Right through the exercises, every time someone joined in or wished us 'Happy Holi' from a distance, Gupta warned: “Buri khabar hai… We have very bad news. That is why we are not celebrating this year.

Bihari Milwani (r) treats us to ghevar

Shekhawat will explain after the exercises.”
Fed up by his constant teasing, Shekhawat quietly slunk behind Gupta and flicked the cap off his head. The odd part was that Gupta did not even realize his cap was gone. So when Shekhawat went to return the cap later, Gupta was completely stumped for words.
Banoo Apa had brought litchi juice, which had a sobering effect on Gupta. And then there was Bihari Milwani who treated us to ghevar, a rare crunchy jalebi-like confection made especially for Holi.
But the biggest surprise was to come in the end, from two ex-members – Vandana Kankanwar and Rakhee Bansi. They had brought along a huge bottle of flavoured milk drink (much like thandai) and served it in paper glasses with salty biscuits. This was absolutely divine. Together with Banoo Apa’s litchi drink and Milwani’s ghewar, it more than made up for whatever anybody might have missed in today's 'festival of colors'. Happy Holi to all!

HOLI HAI! AFTER CELEBRATING