Every Holi, while some people find themselves cheering to Holi Hai and dancing to Balam Pichkari, there are others who witness the shenanigans from the safety of the indoors. Thanks to Instagram, scrolling through reels keeps the Holi fervour going for all the homebodies, including this My Kolkata writer.
This Dol, we picked out the reels that caught our attention and paused the doom scrolling.
When just a ‘tika’ is a ‘dhoka’
If you are someone who prefers staying away from colours, and have friends who are just the opposite kind, then this reel will be totally relatable! All of you who dread the colours have surely been fooled more than once by friends in the name of ‘just a tika’. You might be chilling at home savouring the gujiyas and thandai, and ding dong goes your doorbell. You see your friends — barely recognisable — through the eye hole. You refuse to step out and they emotionally manipulate you saying, “We'll only put a customary tika”. You get trapped and the rest is history. @jasleenkaurr17 perfectly captures this betrayal in a reel where a tika turned out to be a dhoka afterall.
Childhood memories
For many of us, growing up Holi was either the big celebration after the big exams or something that brought a respite from the big exams! The morning began with slipping into old clothes and generously applying coconut oil to your skin and hair. Throwing water balloons and striking yoru friends with a fancy water gun was the best part of playing with colours as a child. Some delicious gujiyas followed from the kitchen. The evening was spent either studying for the next exam or watching TV. Ah! Those childhood days! @logokuhe recreates a perfect nostalgia through his reels.
The Gulal Gota
While many of you already knew about Gulal Gota, some of us just learnt about them this year! Thanks to the Instagram algorithm. This time many reels surfaced on our feed showing how Jaipur has its own alternative to water balloons. In a beautiful instance of unity in diversity, these little colour pops are made by Muslim artisans and have been for over 400 years now — they were once used by royalty to play Holi. The Instagram account @beautifuljaipur elaborates on the process of making these gulal filled balls and the history behind it.
Surreal Holi celebrations
Holi in Lord Krishna's village in Mathura looks absolutely surreal! The Nandgaon village is famous for its Lathmar Holi and thousands of tourists and devotees visit the Barsana and Nandgaon villages during the festival of colours. The Holi celebrated here is a community affair where thousands of people play with colours together. @khatarnakjanab’s reel shows a bird’s-eye view of the celebrations, and it is vibrant, colourful and dreamy!
Rolls Royce Holi in Kolkata
Kolkata has its own community celebration of Holi and it has been celebrated since 1927. A long-standing tradition of an old Kolkata family, the celebration is a grand spectacle with a Rolls Royce model, said to belong to Rudyard Kipling, used as Lord Krishna’s chariot. A parade is held on Kalakar Street, crossing the Howrah Bridge and Burrabazar to reach Shri Ishwar Satyanarayanjee Temple at Mukharam Kanoria Road, where the deity is kept for a few days. The procession is a colourful affair as hundreds of people play with gulal. Check out the reel by @tanayesh for more details.
