On the way we met many groups moving towards Juhu.
If the group was smaller than us we gave them a dose of colour and if the group was bigger we tried to pass silently.
Sometime it worked, other times we got drowned in colour.
Holi normally started a week before where we waited on our terrace with water balloons in the evening. Day time we were in school. We threw them at passersby, mostly familiar and sometimes at strangers.
Some of the strangers hurled the choicest abuses in our direction as we ducked after throwing, some of them laughed and carried on when they realised that it was only water without colour.
On the eve of Holi we bought these colour granules that dissolved in water and gave it a distinct colour. We put these granules inside balloons, plastic bottles that you can squeeze and water guns that looked like rifles, colourful plastic rifles. Then we filled them with water and went to sleep.
On a school day my mother had to wake me up but on Holi day I was up and about with all my ammunition at 7 am. My father was opening his shop. I kept out of his sight.
Within the hour all my friends were down, both girls and boys. We spent the next few hours pelting each other with colours. There was this girl I approached when she yelled, "Don't you dare touch me, you can put a tilak on my forehead".
I was not going to put a tilak on her forehead. I retreated ten feet, then proceeded to pelt her with colour balloons. I expected her to run for her life but no! she charged towards me. She then proceeded to rub lal gulal enthusiastically on my face.
I opened my mouth to yell and found it full of lal gulal. She ran off laughing and I ran to find a tap to gargle my mouth.
At around 11 am we got bored throwing colour at each other. We decided to go to Juhu which was not very far off. Only the boys went and we made sure none of us told the girls where we were going.
On the way we met many groups moving towards Juhu. If the group was smaller than us we gave them a dose of colour and if the group was bigger we tried to pass silently. Sometime it worked, other times we got drowned in colour.
We reached Juhu within the hour. Not the main beach. Much before that there is a cycle path from Juhu Tara road down to the beach. We went down that path.
There were lots of children and adults in the sea. We ran into the sea leaving behind our plastic bottles, water guns.
We enjoyed frolicking in the water for the next hour, throwing water at each other but kept to our own crowd.
Tired we returned to shore, collected our water bottles and water guns and started walking home.
On the way back we met many groups who were going towards the beach. None of them threw colour at us, it was as if they knew Holi was over for us.
We reached our street and each of us went to home.
Only one glance and my mother wanted to know, "HOW COME YOU ARE SO CLEAN?" I was stammering and stuttering when she came at me with her favourite cane. "YOU WENT TO JUHU?!" "Mummy, it hurts. I am wet you know." "EXACTLY! THAT IS WHY I AM CANING YOU."
I ran into the bathroom and latched it. I turned on the shower and started washing myself with my clothes on. There was sand in my clothes and that is how she found out. Next year I will shower before I come home, I decided.
I will be 67 next month. I recall all this, but I don't recall whether my friends or the groups of people we met on the way were Hindus, Christians or Muslims. They were all kids.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
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