HOLI BABY

Tomorrow (6th of March) is HOLI.

For those who don’t know the meaning of this day, please find below a short but interesting explanation I found on internet :

« Holi is an ancient festival of India and was originally known as 'Holika'. The festivals finds a detailed description in early religious works such as Jaimini's Purvamimamsa-Sutras and Kathaka-Grhya-Sutras. Historians also believe that Holi was celebrated by all Aryans but more so in the Eastern part of India. 

It is said that Holi existed several centuries before Christ. However, the meaning of the festival is believed to have changed over the years. Earlier it was a special rite performed by married women for the happiness and well-being of their families and the full moon (Raka) was worshiped. 

Celebration of the various legends associated with Holi reassure the people of the power of the truth as the moral of all these legends is the ultimate victory of good over evil. The legend of Hiranyakashyap and Prahlad also points to the fact that extreme devotion to god pays as god always takes his true devotee in his shelter.

All these legends help the people to follow a good conduct in their lives and believe in the virtue of being truthful. This is extremely important in the modern day society when so many people resort to evil practices for small gains and torture one who is honest. Holi helps the people to believe in the virtue of being truthful and honest and also to fight away the evil. »

Source :www.holifestival.org

This day is a national day in India and everyhting is closed. In addition, this is also known as a « dry day » so you can’t buy any alcohol in the country which is a shame because it’s a day of celebration !

Holi is very special in the Indian culture because as said above, its the victory of good above evil. It’s a very happy day, people celebrate, throw colours at each others, and also drink BHANG.

HAHA ! but what is exactly BHANG ?

BHANG is basicaly a drink where you add an ounce of marijuana and yes, everybody has it during holi ! its part of the culture and as surprising as it can sound, grandma, grandpa, teenagers, all the family can drink this receipe !

It is funny how people talk about it because in France it would be completely forbidden because of the effect of the drug but here, its a delicassy that you can even enjoy into pakora(salted kind of donut) or ladu (indian sweets).

Here is a receipe that I found on internet if you are curious : (or even if you want to make it ! crazy you !)

Ingredients

2 cups water

1 ounce marijuana (fresh leaves and flowers of a female plant preferred)

4 cups warm milk

2 tablespoons blanched and chopped almonds

1/8 teaspoon garam masala (a mixture of cloves, cinnamon, and cardamon)

1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger

1/2 to 1 teaspoon rosewater

1 cup sugar

Method

Bring the water to a rapid boil and pour into a clean teapot. Remove any seeds or twigs from the marijuana, add it to the teapot and cover. Let this brew for about 7 minutes.

Now strain the water and marijuana through a piece of muslin cloth, collect the water and save.

Take the leaves and flowers and squeeze between your hands to extract any liquid that remains. Add this to the water.

Place the leaves and flowers in a mortar and add 2 teaspoons warm milk. Slowly but firmly grind the milk and leaves together. Gather up the marijuana and squeeze out as much milk as you can. Repeat this process until you have used about 1/2 cup of milk (about 4 to 5 times). Collect all the milk that has been extracted and place in a bowl. By this time the marijuana will have turned into a pulpy mass.

Add the chopped almonds and some more warm milk. Grind this in the mortar until a fine paste is formed. Squeeze this paste and collect the extract as before. Repeat a few more times until all that is left are some fibers and nut meal. Discard the residue.

Combine all the liquids that have been collected, including the water the marijuana was brewed in. Add to this the garam masala, dried ginger and rosewater. Add the sugar and remaining milk.

For my next article, I will post some of the pictures of the holi I spent in Delhi !

BYE PEOPLE ! and stay connected