Holi

If one had been travelling around in India today then one would have been in grave danger of flying eggs, water balloons and red, green and pink dye. This is because today was Holi, the festival of colour was being held. It is held to celebrate the victory of Prahlada over his father, the king of demons. His father reckoned that Prahlada should worship him but the son had other ideas. He prayed to Lord Vishnu to save him from his fathers murder attempts and the world was shown that the king of demons could be overcome. Or so the story goes. Anyway it is held on the full moon in the Hindi month that coincides with February and March and also welcomes the coming of spring.

Not my pictures, but this is what they do!

At Bishop Cotton School it has for decades been celebrated by all of the above, as well as with no lessons, a cricket match, tearing clothes and general mischievousness. Today however the celebrations were very much muted. Last Diwhali a boy was hit in the eye by a firecracker and his parents asked if it were possible could the school not permit any celebrations that may endanger little Jonny, (or Yudveer in this case). As well as this there had been reports of eyes being stung due to the rubbing of toothpaste on the face as well as boys having to scrub their faces red to get rid of shoe polish that had been generously applied by seniors. Even so the boys writing their final exams (who completed Upper 6 last year) took a break from revision to wake all the boarding houses up with buckets of water at 1 o'clock in the morning and wish them Happy Holi. And then there was as much pasting, polishing and painting as possible before the teachers spoiled their fun. Luckily I was safely tucked up in bed in my own room but was amused by the state of many of the boys this morning.

It also snowed very briefly today which prompted a jam session in the main court with music blasting out the windows, all part of the traditional Indian Holi experience. 

While not of the best quality this photo kind of shows

how BCS boys celebrate Holi.

Cheers and Happy Holi.