Another think I hated..whn they emptied 1 can of powder into my hair..my scalped itched for days..like if i had dandruff..the powder made-me sneeze (i had allergies) n again it got-into my eyes

I Hated  the powder whn it was used in this fashion

I hated it at school..i didnt likemy white shirt to get all smeared with the color..lol

Esp since some guys used to get Potassium permanganate from the lab n this stained my white blouse but also my lil white yattin boots.

I had a long way to travel after sch n i didnt like to look messy (i was a neat sch girl..hahaha)

Another things was..the water was supposed to be played with early morning n in the aft it was a beer/abrac n powder.

but once 2 guys(friends) who had crushes on 2 of my sisters came to our house in the late afternoon

well of course the doors were opened..n no one was looking out or expecting anyone to come with water

we saw these 2 guys(drunk of course) running into our yardn grabbing buckets from our yardn taking water from our water tanks ..we tried to lock the doors n they climbed thru the windows..

so we locked up in a bedroom

but they climbed over the wall into the room..we, the younger ones crawled under the bed..

they dragged out out by our feet n guess wht..the bed/mattress got wet in the process

another thing..in climbing over the wall with dirty skin/feet, they passed over a hat stand wheremy mom’s white headkerchief was hung up..n the lady headkerchief was all muddied after, much to her annoyance.  She threatened to report them to police.

the next morning, they were sober of course n came home to apologize to my parents

So anyone can tell..Phagwah isnt 1 of my fave festivals

whn i moved to GT..i stayed indoors in my rented apt  n locked up for the entire day

Well, as I mentioned ..there were aspects of this holiday that i enjoyed ..

i liked going to matya the night before to watch ‘holka burn’ (n of course i loved d parsad..my mom gave me her share so i had double)

i loved the chowtal singing..in matya but my aunty used to have the grp in her home to do it as well

i was fascinated as a kid…

with the sound of music ( wht do u call the instrument that they use to ‘clap’

i used to be mesmerized watching their hands n also watching the men sway as they sang!!..n esp with the lil a beer sprinkled on their white outfits n a bit of white powder on their faces , it was a beautiful site!!

i am still fascinated with chowtal singing to this day!!

Will continue with wht aspect of Phagwah i enjoyed

but i forgot to mention another thing i hated was travelling to sch n getting wet on the road …Esp with the stink water from the ‘sailane’ trench by zeeburg sch..

there were some wicked young guys who used to wait for sch to be ‘over’.  They sat on the bridge n lined up in the trench to pass buckets of dirty water

we had to play dodge byt timing in between as they refilled buckets n had to run as fast as we could to get over that bridge

u guys know that stink water??

Amral u know it..that trench by zeeburg sch..

wht is the correct name ‘sideline’?? We used to say ‘sai-lin’

man dat water stink bad!!! Imagine if u got wet with it n had to wear yr clothes for 3 yrs n travel on the bus n ferry ..

all yr head/hair wet with stinky water

so yes..i didnt like the way some people played Phagwah …

Well in sch (Zb) we always had Phagwah concerts..which were very very nice n I enjoyed that.

We were allowed to play with a bitof powder n abrac..with limitations..so that was nice..u just rub a bitof both on faces..not clothes ..

The song's iconic status has made it a must-play during Holi festivities.

Will share abt wht we didn at home..the part of Phagwah that i enjoyed..int he house with the family

but i have wrk to do ..haha

will continue later…

@Mitwah posted:

The song's iconic status has made it a must-play during Holi festivities.

My fave Phagwah song

holi aaye re kanhaiye rang charke …

n there is anice 1 with Hema n Dharam i think

i think

holi ke din ..

be back later to read all, but the best times for me with that was school days, use to get lil fun rubbing powder down them girls neck/blouse

gyal you really had fun in those days I see. I celebrated with my school friends, it was most times water and powder. You could not play in school, but once school was over then the fun started.

@Amral posted:

be back later to read all, but the best times for me with that was school days, use to get lil fun rubbing powder down them girls neck/blouse

Exactly why me nah bin like fuh play phagwah in sch..

n why my dad didnt allow us to go play with water on the road..

dem bai used to lift dem gals n throw them in d trench..

it was their chance to hold dem gal who dem bin ‘like’ ..

@Amral posted:

gyal you really had fun in those days I see. I celebrated with my school friends, it was most times water and powder. You could not play in school, but once school was over then the fun started.

Zb sch allowed us to play the aft session on the day before Phagwah..

ie we used to have the concert n after that we were allowed to play a bit..as long as we were not disruptive

After sch was hard as we had to catch train on DeWillem platform..so walking to get to that dam was a problem

it was very hard to stay ‘clean’

i hated it too because my sis used to give me licks whn my sch clothes were stained..she had too-much work to clean then

n she blamed me for getting all messed up, accusing me of playing!!

staying dry n clean in the ferry was another challenge..but i was a serious kid so the guys knew my eldest bro too..so once they saw my serious face n that i wasnt playing, they left me alone!!  I just had to glare at them whn i saw them approaching n they stopped!!

Let us make our lives a little more colourful, joyous, and  lively as that the colours of Holi.

Happy Holi  to all who are celebrating.

@Amral posted:

be back later to read all, but the best times for me with that was school days, use to get lil fun rubbing powder down them girls neck/blouse

Heh heh. Me bin wutliss too. Some of dem  boys used to leave dem palm prints on dem girls boobs and buttocks... ah mean on dem clothes.

Holi was a good time for spring cleaning the yard and burning all the trash.

Happy Holi

@Mitwah posted:

Heh heh. Me bin wutliss too. Some of dem  boys used to leave dem palm prints on dem girls boobs and buttocks... ah mean on dem clothes.

Holi was a good time for spring cleaning the yard and burning all the trash.

Happy Holi

See..??

iz sch bais like ayu deez mek me nah like play Phagwah!!

me daadi was smart in banning us from going on the road to play with watah..

that is exactly wht he told my  mother

’dem bais guh use it as excuse to hold dem gal pickney’

n even whn people came to the house, he took all de ‘soaking’ because he dint like the. Idea of us wearing wet clothes that would CLING to our bodies….we didnt understand then, but looking back, it was very revealing !!

@Lynn posted:

See..??

iz sch bais like ayu deez mek me nah like play Phagwah!!

yep yep yep, we use to have we lil feel up then

Yes..

the festivites began with cleaning of the house..

tap to battam..meaning ‘cobwebbbing’ from roof n all dem ledges..

washing walls with caustic soda..imagine my sisters hands used to peel!!

Then the Holika burning in matya the nightbefore as I mentioned

Washing all the fabric from window blinds …n changing into the ‘Christmas’ (holiday) ones

Early morning my maa wud put on a big pot of water to boil n make a beer n whn this was cooled, she poured itinto ‘flatties’ that had corks with nail- holes..

i loved this concept as it sprinkled the beer that than make a big mess ..

buy it looked  nice on our lily white frocks n shirt ..

so whilst my Maa  be bz in kitchen making gojha , gulgula, parsad ..we used to bathe n dress up with our nice white dresses.

meanwhile my older sis made sweet rice n wet vermicelli n paratha roti (this was dinner ..everybody fasting)..ie no salt food!

So in the aft was playing time with ur a beer n powder..a few relatives would come around in the afternoon n play with us..

a cuz who used to work in GT used to come with her 4 kids who were staying with their grandma…she used to bring several cans of white powder ..Saturday Night n My Fair lady..she wud leave the 1 can with each one of us..n she wud give us a small piece..10 -25 cents .

N the food..

my mom’s gulgula..to die for n the sis before me didnt like it so I got her share..hahaha

n d gojha/gujiya…made with freshly grated coconut from our own tree..with lots of GINGER n no 'coloring’!!

N the dough was THIN..(not like dem thick flour thing like bake that they make nowadays )

parsad…

nice rich sweet rice (we had cows n our milk was thick n creamy) ..

n the wet vamazelli ..to eat with hot paratha roti(made with lil ghee) …

n we got gifts too..like a dress ‘length’

Now the day after Phagwah we didnt go to sch..we took it as our holiday..n we killed a yard fowl ..

so curry chicken with dhalpuri,chowmein, phulourie n of course sponge Fruit cakes.

That day was also clean up..to scrub the floors n steps if any Abee r fell..n my big sis had the tedious task of washing all the white clothes n removing the Abeer!!

SO THAT is how I SPENT PHAGWAH for the 1st 16 yrs of my life

as my dad died whn i was 17 yrs (2 wks after we celebrated Phagwah,,March 17, 1977)

n that was the last Phagwah we celebrated as a family.

Laywer whn i moved to GT, i had a couple of cousins who were wrkingn going to sch .  They r ented a big apt n they used to invite me over to spend the holidays with then in GT.

it wasnt the same but I enjoyed the sweet food n company…

Well…u all share yr memories…

i am sure u had more than just the fun with dem lil girls!!

wht were yr family traditions ..

wht foods were yr fave??

Prezzo?

Django??

VG??

is weh ayu deh??

Cain…any stories??

no traditions for me since we were muslims,  but my neighbours , yeah they did all that cleaning up, new blinds, scraping the wooden steps, dabbing the bottom house etc.

@Amral posted:

no traditions for me since we were muslims,  but my neighbours , yeah they did all that cleaning up, new blinds, scraping the wooden steps, dabbing the bottom house etc.

Did they share the sweets with u..??

i know just like EID..everyone got the bags with goodies

i rem walking n sharing to every house in our area. The few couple blacks/dougla  , muslims n hindus

everyone looked forward to the treats even if it was parsad alone.

i miss that a lot..the unity in celebrating these holidays

n in sch..the concerts…everyone participate in singing holi songs

i rem 1 of the teachers would train the ‘choir’ for weeks ahead..i still rem 1 song which wasmy fave n still is..from Mother India..

”holi aaye re kanhaiye …”

@Lynn posted:

N the food..

my mom’s gulgula..to die for n the sis before me didnt like it so I got her share..hahaha

n d gojha/gujiya…made with freshly grated coconut from our own tree..with lots of GINGER n no 'coloring’!!

N the dough was THIN..(not like dem thick flour thing like bake that they make nowadays )

parsad…

nice rich sweet rice (we had cows n our milk was thick n creamy) ..

n the wet vamazelli ..to eat with hot paratha roti(made with lil ghee) …

n we got gifts too..like a dress ‘length’

Meh neighbor daughter made Gulgula and sent over about 2 pounds. There were thousands at  the temples last night.  I think Triveni had the best turn out.  Chowtaal singing was very vibrant.  It's encouraging to see the youths  whose parents are from different countries of Indian Heritage mixing ; dancing and flirting.

@Amral posted:

yep yep yep, we use to have we lil feel up then

Girls can be perverts too. They are just better at hiding it.

@Lynn posted:

N the food..

my mom’s gulgula..to die for n the sis before me didnt like it so I got her share..hahaha

n d gojha/gujiya…made with freshly grated coconut from our own tree..with lots of GINGER n no 'coloring’!!

N the dough was THIN..(not like dem thick flour thing like bake that they make nowadays )

parsad…

nice rich sweet rice (we had cows n our milk was thick n creamy) ..

n the wet vamazelli ..to eat with hot paratha roti(made with lil ghee) …

n we got gifts too..like a dress ‘length’

Deez dayz it's DDL and DIH rum till yuh die and chinese food. Still some do the the duck or chicken curry.  dem gurls na want dress length. dem prefer  de paisa.

@Mitwah posted:

Girls can be perverts too. They are just better at hiding it.

Saintly type..haha