The madness of Mumbai awaits with only one more day until we leave Australian shores for the frantic, hectic pace of India, one of the world's most populous country with 1.22 billion people.
According to a few taxi drivers in Brisbane who have assisted with my travel plans, the western world has no idea about colour like the Indians do, they live, breathe and inhale every single drop of colour in the food they eat to the clothes that they wear. Apparently we westerners live in a world of black, white and grey compared to how our Indian counterparts embrace colours. So simply seeing and witnessing this smorgasbord of colour isn't enough for us, so Deep and I are going to immerse ourselves in a sea of red, gold, blue and green by being part of the Festival of Colours, more commonly referred to as Holi on March 8. Rather than rephrasing a perfectly well written piece on Holi by Wikipedia, here is what Holi is all about.
"The main day, Holi, also known as Dhuli in Sanskrit, also Dhulheti, Dhulandi or Dhulendi, is celebrated by people throwing coloured powder and coloured water at each other. Bonfires are lit on the eve of the festival, also known as Holika Dahan (burning of Holika) or Chhoti Holi (little Holi). After doing holika dalhan prayers are said and praise is offered. The bonfires are lit in memory of the miraculous escape that young Prahlad accomplished when Demoness Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, carried him into the fire. Holika was burnt but Prahlad, a staunch devotee of god Vishnu, escaped without any injuries due to his unshakable devotion. Holika Dahan is referred to as Kama Dahanam in South India."
So in a nutshell, Deep and I are India's blank canvas, ready for the locals to paint us as they please. Our next blog will be in a few short days when we visit Deep's family in Khardi (three hours south-east of Mumbai) I'm pretty sure there will be plenty to read and see in our next blog.
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