A Holi to Remember

On nearly every occasion when I switch on my radio I usually hear a Holi song which I have also seen on the TV the scene flashes before my eyes of the hero spraying Gulal on the heroine and the group of dancers dancing to the lyrics of the song. This happens several times a year and gives me a feeling that Holi is just around the corner. I rush to check the calendar for the date when Holi is going to be celebrated. Surely my checking again and again would not bring this festival closer.

At last the much awaited day is about to come and I have not even prepared for it. My shopping is still incomplete as I have not yet bought Gulal or prepared the sweets like the Gujiya which is a must for each and every Holi. The biggest part is that I have to send invites to my close friends and neighbors for a lunch party to celebrate the day of colors.

I am going to do this as my childhood memories of the way I used to celebrate Holi is still fresh in my mind. The celebration would be in the same style but with one major change. It would be a dry Holi. It means that water would not be used seeing the water crisis faced by many households. This would be in direct contrast to my childhood Holi when water and colors used to be my greatest tool.

In those days when I was a child I used to store water mixed with color in large drums. This was my arsenal to be used in my Pichkari for spraying every one who came into sight with the magical colors of Holi. I made sure that the colors were the fast ones so that the recipients would not be able to remove the colors and would remember me when ever they would see their color stained clothes.

Our home used to be full of people, my uncles and aunts my cousin brothers and sisters together constituted to form a big group. There was a great hullaboo as every one was trying to put color on the other and there was lots of chaos as every one was trying to escape the onslaught of colors by running here and there. This proved to be my advantage as I targeted the runners with my Pichkari and drenched them to my hearts content.

My grandmother and my mother had prepared a delicious feast for every one which was greatly appreciated by every one. The whole atmosphere was one of excitement, love and happiness.

I want to relive my childhood memory by recreating the same atmosphere once again so that every one in the present become partners to my old memories. My purpose is to spread love, love and love.

“I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.”

Holi Kab Hai Kab Hai Holi

Holi is around the corner and as I am preparing for the Holi get together at my place and ordering for Gulal and sweets as I plan to play  #KhulKeKheloHoli  my mind takes me back to my childhood and a Holi that I will never forget.

As children Holi used to be a special occasion for us. It was the day of no studies and all fun. The only rule that we followed was to have as much fun as possible and color every one in sight as our Pichkaris did not believe in discriminating between the different targets based on age, gender, caste or creed. Who ever came in their range was not spared. Thinking of the word Holi the first thing that comes to my mind is my elder cousin brother and was it his obsession with Holi or fascination of Gabbar Singh of Sholay , I am not very sure. When ever he would come to visit us he would always be carrying his big Pichkari. He would bully us by pointing his Pichkari towards us and asking in a sinister Gabbar style Holi Kab Hai Kab Hai Holi. Our answers did not carry any weight with him because no matter whatever our answers were we ended up becoming the target of gushes of water coming out of his huge Pichkari. Till date I do not know if he thought of us as Jai, Veeeru or Basanti or Dhanno for that matter for there was no escaping the huge drenching we got from the big Pichkari of his. It was the day of Holi and we his younger siblings hatched a plan to get even with him by taking our revenge. We had a large pit that had been dug up and left uncovered in our backyard. We had it filled with colored water and covered the pit with sheets of polythene and sprinkled some mud on it to make it look like the ground. Since I was the swiftest runner the responsibility of luring our elder sluggish fatso bully brother fell upon me. So when the time of his arrival came all of my cousins except me hid themselves. When he came he pointed his Pichkari in my direction and repeated his same old dialogue of Holi Kab Hai Kab Hai Holi. I looked at him and showed him my tongue to tease him and started running as fast as I could. Seeing me running away from him he too started running after me and began to chase me. I made him run all around the house till he got tired and began to pant. This was the moment that I had been waiting for and I began to run towards the pit with my cousin in tow. I knew the exact location of the pit and when I reached it I simply jumped across it. I heard a loud splash and I turned back to find my cousin bobbing up and down in the mud pit completely drenched with mud and colored water. My cousins who were in hiding came out to surround the pit and asked him again and again Holi Kab Hai Kab Hai Holi as they splashed color on him with their Pichkaris. It was a much awaited revenge and from that time onwards he stopped imitating Gabbar and never bullied us again. This was indeed the most memorable Holi of our lives.

“I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.”

Bringing about a change

A normal day goes like this in the life of my dear sister, when I stayed with her .She wakes up early in the morning around 5 am. She then prepares the breakfast, makes two or three variations of dishes according to the liking of the family. She packs 3 lunch boxes one for herself, her husband and for a three year old son. All this while her son and husband are still in bed and catching up with their sleep. Then she wakes up her son and help him  to get ready for the school. She is constantly on the run, making frequent rounds to the kitchen, taking milk from the milkman, setting the table, bathing
her little one, ironing the clothes, setting his school bag, providing her husband clothes, tie,handkerchief etc and then setting the breakfast table for them. While feeding her son she keeps answering the phones, briefing her juniors about the work and coordinating with her colleagues for the day ahead in the office. She drops her son to the school then rushes to reach her office in between munching her breakfast as she didn’t get the time to have her breakfast. After reaching her office she arranges things for the day ahead, prepare projects, drafts for the meetings. In the lunch break again her full attention is at home. While eating her lunch she talks to her son who is now back from school. She enquires about his activities at school, about his home work etc and in this her 1/2 hr lunch gets finished. She again gets back to work. In the evening she reaches home tired
and exhausted but as soon as she steps into her home she is a housewife and a mother. Her son demands her attention as well her husband demands a particular dish for the dinner. She immediately enters into the kitchen and starts preparing the dinner. Then she feeds her kid and while her husband is enjoying a movie on TV or playing a game on Xbox she is doing the laundry and preparing for the next day. She cleans that special
white dress for his son and the special lucky shirt for her husband as it’s his important meeting the next day. She manages all this with a smile. It’s the same for her from Monday to Sunday, no incentive or bonus for this job. I recently saw this advertisement of Ariel and I shared this with my jiju, my sister and her kid. It’s an eye opener. Since then my jiju helps my sister with the laundry. And they are managing it well. My sister has now some time for herself and a good bonding with her husband. I hope this brings a positive change in the lives of others too.

 “I am joining the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign at BlogAdda and blogging about the prejudice related to household chores being passed on to the next generation.”

Won't you share the load

A pile of clothes for laundry is a common sight at any Indian household. The biggest reason for that is the misconception that laundry is women's job has been passed on from generations to generations so the household leave this laundry job for the lady of the house.
‘Mom! Where are my fresh socks?’
‘Didi! Why didn’t you scrub my shirt’s collar? It’s still grimy!’
‘Dad! If you see mom ask her to keep my football uniform ready, I need it tomorrow!’
is indeed a common conversation which is a part of nearly all households. I am thankful to Ariel and Blogadda for creating awareness about the issue of laundry. You all must have seen the new Ariel advertisement by now. How a father realizes that his little daughter has grown up. He sees her working hard, managing kids, work and cleaning clothes. A multitasker by all sense while her husband is busy watching TV. It’s in our upbringing that we don’t see any thing odd in it when a lady of the house is working outside as well as looking after the house and doing the laundry for herself as well of the entire household. Girls are being trained at an early stage in every Indian household in house work such as cleaning, cooking and doing the laundry. According to a survey conducted by a third party for Ariel reveals some statistics that show a bleak future for the women

.78% of girls in India agree that they should learn laundry as they have to do it
when they grow up. This is what our elders have taught us.

2 out of every 3 children think that washing clothes is a women's job.

But the fact is that when both genders are bread earners then the household work load
should be shared too. In today’s scenario people expect their daughter-in-law to be working so that she contributes to the working of the house due to increasing expenditure and cost of living but at the same time they expect her to do all the household work when she returns home while there is no such expectation from their sons

.This is unfair.81% of married men in India agree that their daughters must learn household chores. Instead the men should encourage both boys as well as girls to be self reliant and tell them that doing household chores and laundry is not a women job alone.

76% of married men in India believe that not helping with laundry at home still
makes them a great role model for their children. This belief is a myth one can
be a true role model only if one takes equal responsibility with his wife in
doing laundry and other household work.


“I am joining the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign at BlogAdda and blogging about the prejudice related to household chores being passed on to the next generation.”