47. Celebrate Holi with paint on my face

I always thought I’d get to do this in India, but the Walkinstown Indian Community Centre proved to be great fun and heaps easier to travel to.

My Husband works with a bunch of sweet hearted Indian fellas who, at the office one day, mentioned a Holi celebration in a neighbourhood not too far from ours.

Sunday afternoon rolled around and we set off on our bikes, clothed in something easy to wash and relatively low expectations.  Feeling like the uncool people at the party, we arrived far too early and seemed to be the only non-Indian faces out of the few scattered around the community centre.

What were we to do?  Make like true Irish and head to the pub of course for a few pints until things kicked off.

When we returned, we were greeted with a crowded carpark, some delicious samosas and the most colourful congregation of Indian folk I have witnessed in my life so far.  The joy in the air was contagious and we were quickly handed bags of brightly coloured paint powder to cover ourselves and those around us.

 

 

It took a few minutes to get over the tension about my hand crocheted beanie being covered in orange powder, but once I let go, I was letting kids throw all the colours of the rainbow in my face, much to their amusement.

 

 

Once the paint bags had run low, Bollywood music blared from the centre and we were dragged inside to learn all the dance moves.  Like any moshpit of dancers, the smell wasn’t something I’d want to experience again, but the music was great, the crowd was buzzing and the atmosphere joyous.