Today is Holi Day in this part of Nepal. It’s celebrated in the rest of the country and India tomorrow. It’s another Hindu festival and happens early in the a year and timed to fit with the lunar cycle. It’s also called the colour festival because the celebration involves coloured powder and coloured waters. People will come up to you in the street and wish you ‘Happy Holi Day’ while rubbing brightly coloured powder into your face, hair and clothes. Or you might get squirted with coloured water. People like to throw water out of high Windows on coloured revelers below. I’m not sure of the religious significance of this but these activities probably have as much relevance to the original meaning as Easter has to Chistianity. But who cares. I’ve never seen so much fun on such a scale. Everywhere you go the streets are packed with painted people in such high spirits. The only alcohol I see is being consumed by foreigners. The Nepalese are high on fun. It’s great to see. People of all ages get involved but it’s mainly the young. Free music in the streets gathers them into a dancing frenzy.
As with any big celebration, not everyone benifits or have the capacity to participate. Every day counts for them and means food in their mouths. The beggars are still in the streets and the bag men/boys go about collecting recyclable things, amid the craziness.
There is a free concert happening in the people’s park in central Kathmandu. Thousands of people are already there and so many more flooding in. The dancing kicks up a large cloud of dust! Glad I’m not amongst that.
I’m with Ganesh, who I bumped into on the street near the hotel. We’re now in a Main Street and there are people enmasse everywhere. Amazingly we come across Raju! How can that happen? In a single time and place we meet Raju in the middle of all this. Amazing. Raju is celebrating. He’s had a few drinks and is so happy, not just full of Holi Day fever but his very pregnant wife has flown home to Denmark to have their first child soon. I think he’s feeling wife-free right now and is letting his hair down. He’s here with his mates and they’re having a great time. I leave them to make my way back to the hotel. I get lost and end up at Durbar Square. There are painted people here too, everywhere. Fortunstely with the help of google maps I find my way.
angusmccoll 