Happy Holi

And it was, with liberal doses of madness included...last night the fires started, we could only see a couple from here but the added smoke offered up another few Ganges moments. As tonight, you lose the horizon in the haze, tones of deepest blue merging seamlessly out beyond the few lights on the other side of the water...but enough wonderment...a return to madness...
Here at Vishnu towers I was woken by s reams as the early risers had taken to the battlements and had engaged the locals, and the chai seller next door in vicious combat....it was 0700...frivolous carnage continued, our holi clothing no longer dyed but saturated...and then group gatherings and clicking cameras and it was 1000 at which point it all hit top gear and a few of us decided to head out...to find that the door was locked from the inside, there was no way out.. we found ajay the manager who told us....its too dangerous, people have been drinking all night, they'll kill you....it's OK we said, we're armed...and showed him our modified water bottles and pistols...he groaned...no you stay in...I've been out in Glasgow, I offered, holi is nothing in comparison...he relented, we went out to the demand....you come back in half hour, only half hour. Is dangerous for you, you crazy, they crazy, this is trouble...half hour!
And so we entered the maze of alleys...and were immediately attacked, purple....then I got seperated...and while the others took the ghats route I followed the alleys, where in an ongoing torrent of bombs dropped upon me and hugs, cries of happy holi and water pistols I continued...then a bucket of red was loosed upon me...but mostly missed....outnumbered and down to half a litre of blue and my water pistol of bright pink I suddenly found the main street...which was in a state of utter carnage....silver faces, gold, red, torn clothing, drunkenness and police standing grinning....many cries of happy holi, three bounce hugs aplenty and then a group of kids who stole my bottle from my bag and promptly emptied it upon me....and still morning...
I bumped into the others on the main ghat, they too looked as if it had been a struggle....
A wander, a couple of invitations to join dancing groups of lunatics....then silver faced return to Vishnu where the staff had joined in and were mainly in state of contented tipsyness...ajay was dressed up, beamed a smile at us...is good you play holi....
And at midday it stopped. It was time to shower and the change out of my devastated clothing and shower...I even put shorts on as the alleys were flooded with holi colours...mixed at one point with the renewed overflowing of the underground river...and I have to wash two lunghis already...the afternoon then exploded into a family feud...when the chai man decided in the aftermath of too much alcohol to kill his neighbour in regard of a three generational family feud..so while the neighbour was washing holi off himself in the Ganges he ran in brandishing a knife and had to be manhandled away by a group who prevented him from reaching his neighbour....and then two arguments exploded....
By late afternoon all began to calm...we decided to grab a boat, the chaiman too drunk to row enlisted a small boy...ten of us this time....
And that was holi.

I've started to try to put some more holi photos on flickr...but it will take time...
And tomorrow's the last day here...I wonder how I'll feel about normality, even the Indian variant...could be fun, but now the group splits up and it's time to leave...I think a week of peace and tranquility would be no bad thing......