happy holi

I know its belated - but its the procrastination bit that makes me a non-anal virgo, so deal.
I debated running off to delhi, to play holi in the much heard but never experienced north indian style. But my little baby discovered she lurved getting drenched with a pichkari, after two pre-evenings filled with water play with other toddlers in the building. And many trips to the store to get just the right pichkari.
Come Holi day, Amelia saw that one pat of colour, rubbed on by a formerly hostile, now suspiciously friendly neighbour and wailed 'dirty'. Who would have thought! This is a girl who revels in falling and crawling all through the compound.
Well, anyway, that put an end to that holi bonding with my daughter fantasy, so put her to sleep and went off with the husband to join Adu's crazy gang in their holi revelry.
What do I love most about holi, is that it is such a great equalizer - like now my aforementioned neighbour and I are saying hi to each other, instead of just walkbys in the building compound (though I will get to the bottom of why she's suddenly being friendly, I will I will) and how the building big kids gang, that I have always yelled at to not play football around the toddler group and I had a bit of throw buckets of blue water game for ten minutes before Amelia panicked again, and how maids and memsahebs all played holi to the not yet cliched, though you'd think it had log surpassed its lifespan 'rang barse'.
And the best part - my never indulgent, always so tightly controlled puritan husband, downing 4 glasses of bhang laced thandai and then giggling like a four year old, spraying the fire extinguisher on us not so high, due to an experienced stronger mind souls. And explaining that fire extinguishers put out fire to each of the dogs in turn, who just gave him a very baffled look, before curling up and sleeping.
The not so good part, him being violently sick and swearing off the bhaang for another year. But I live with that memory.
Happy Holi everybody. May life always be giggly happy.