Who can forget the iconic HOLI song from the movie Silsila?
Our much-awaited festival of colors is around the corner, unfortunately, the specter of the double mutant Coronavirus is here to dampen our spirit.
Friends, instead of feeling gloomy, let’s think of celebrating HOLI in a novel way.
Agreed we can’t meet our friends and relatives in big groups, but we can be innovative, get into a joyous mood, have fun!
A) Turn the Gunjia (traditional Holi savory) making session into a family activity, involve everyone, let the youngsters look for an interesting recipe on the internet. I found a great, healthy recipe on the YOUTUBE, “Suji Gunjia recipe without mava by Nisha madhulika”, instead of regular mava stuffing, she has used semolina(suji) and fresh, grated coconut with dry fruits, it’s different, yet traditional and oooh so yummy!
Don’t forget to prepare Thandai or Kanji to go with it or just order Guru ji or Haldiram Thandai, both are very authentic.
B) This time, let’s use only homemade colors, Haldi (turmeric) for yellow, Kumkum for red, a paste of Beetroot or Spinach with Besan (Gram flour), for a colorful, organic HOLI palette
My homemade concoction: – grind four beetroots or a small bunch of spinach in a grinder, add 2 table spoons of rose water and 2 table spoons of besan, Ahhhh..what lovely color, smells great and good for the skin too!
Last year Holi pic of LEO
C) Our ten-year-old Golden retriever, loves the festivities, enjoys getting colored and looks forward to a Gunjia treat. He keeps prancing around when we are on a video chat with our sons, even our little grand daughter responds to his antics now.
D) With all the colors still smeared on us, we plan to video chat with our family abroad, this is our first holi with our one-year old grandkid, whom we have seen growing up online only! No worries, we will meet up soon!
E) Lastly, friends do recite the Holika Dahan story to your children and grandchildren, tell them about Holi with flowers in temples, the LATHMAR Holi in Mathura, and Vrindavan and Lord Krishna’s Holi with Gopikas.
They will learn the significance of Holi and about our culture; some of the local traditions are so interesting, so much fun, the youngsters living in metros would love to hear about them.
DEARIES, you are lucky if you are in a joint family, those, whose children have flown out of the nest, and the nuclear families too, do try….
to whip up the enthusiasm,
be grateful that all in the family are healthy,
enjoy each and every festival,
Renuka.