Comments on: On Reasons for Holi

By: Preston

Preston — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:08:37 +0000

Guyanese and Trinidadians celebrate holi as phagwah, and turn it into an Indo-Caribbean national day.

By: zimblymallu

zimblymallu — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:49:19 +0000

@ponniyin selvan – those attractive provocative mallu girls. there’s always one around.

Not sure why tamilians and malayalees don’t celebrate holi. I think it has to do with the touching. or the prevention of it. of course, when we did play holi, everyone was most careful to not actually do anything inappropriate, since that would definitely not be good for street cred with the women. while i was in bangalore, i noticed two different groups of people playing holi… the college “porkis” who wanted cheap thrills, and the north indians, who got their whole family into it. I remember coming away wondering that their parents would allow all this abandoned behavior. So while I always played holi with my northie friends, I also remember that there were plenty of kannadiga boys (and some girls) running around town splashed with color. i don’t remember any aunties and uncles getting in on it, unlike the northies.

By: Maurice Reeves

Maurice Reeves — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:48:16 +0000

If I may just interject for a moment...it's my experience that in the US, the majority of us gora are exposed to Northern Indian culture as opposed to Southern Indian culture. The Indian food is mostly Northern, the movies most likely to be seen are Northern (think 'Monsoon Wedding', 'Bend It Like Beckham', or 'Bride and Prejudice'), and the Indian music, northern, especially Bhangra.

So it comes as no surprise to me that the LA Times, when discussing Holi, would believe that it's a major Hindu festival based on the larger amount of North Indian culture exported here.

By: Shodan

Shodan — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:37:42 +0000

ABDs being slightly confused about Holi, I can understand. What excuse do these people have? They have lumped dahi-handi / pot breaking (Krishna Janmashtami) w/ Holi.

BTW, Holi is celebrated in Nepal as well.

By: Neal (with no 'e')

Neal (with no 'e') — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:35:45 +0000

In case it wasn’t clear to anyone, my sarcasm was wholly directed at the LA Times article and its shoddy coverage — not at Holi or Hinduism.

I guess the problem is that the LA Times’ take is closer to most people’s experience of Holi than your snark is. I mean you did kind of link Holi to traditions of female burning, which is pretty much guaranteed to piss people off. And does the fact that something is “just” a North Indian festival mean it’s not a “major” festival? You’re still talking about a population larger than most countries

I usually really enjoy your sarcastic, funny takes on news and pop culture. But this one seemed like kind of a reach to me.

By: Janeofalltrades

Janeofalltrades — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:21:35 +0000

I love Holi. I love the color and total insanity that went with it. I remember celebrating it an entire day when I was a kid in India. Would start in the morning and over most of the day relatives would stream in or we'd visit families all dirty and colorful and eat lots of karanjis and besan ladoos oh yeah and srikhand poori as well. Personally for me the article doesn't bother me. A little ignorant knowledge is acceptable. Holi is huge where I'm from in India and more than huge I love that it's sort of an all encompassing celebration that doesn't require anyone to check their religion or status at the door. It's just fun like someone said a lot like St Paddy's day. It brings a fun and colorful festival into the light for otherwise ignorant Americans because it's a smaller celebration. Just as Diwali has become more known over the past few years, this is another celebration.

And sorry I didn't get the scarcasm either. I just couldn't understand why you were so offended by the article and it's implications. I heard pretty much the same stories growing up and was just fine with them.

By: Gorbag

Gorbag — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:07:32 +0000

I'm starting to imagine what a skewed view of the religion growing up in America must give one, and it's sad.

Its not sad. Its cool, secular and modernist. Yo

By: Sol

Sol — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 15:36:06 +0000

Tamilnadu celebrates something similar. During one of the days of pongal, the girls splash/douse water(mixed with turmeric) on guys they like. This happens mainly in villages, and it is fading away. And guys are not supposed to retaliate.

By: MoorNam

MoorNam — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 15:29:36 +0000

Iâ€™m a Southie, and as far as I know, playfully throwing water balloons and colored powder at one another isnâ€™t really our thing

"Southie" quite doesn't cut it. It would be more accurate to say that Tamilians and Malyalees in TN & Kerala do not celebrate holi. Vast swaths of Andhra, Karnataka and Goa (the other three southie states) celebrate it.

I used to enjoy the festival in my childhood/youth, nowadays it's become a field day for hooligans.

M. Nam

By: Floridian

Floridian — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 15:25:01 +0000

I have always thought of holi as the Indian version of Mardi Gras - a religious connection that is tenuous at best but both a huge cultural expression with very deep social roots.

Any of you up on the North-South divide and why holi isn't big in South India? Just curious.