March 16th: A Day of Paint and Costumes

While most of my time is spent in the village, we come to Kathmandu once a month for a 4 day seminar. This seminar is meant to bring all the fellows together, present the work we have all been doing, and offer new skills and resources to bring back with us for the next month. However this month was a little different. During this past seminar two holidays, Holi and Purim, fell on the same day! While one holiday is a Hindi festival and the other one is a Jewish Halloween of sorts, both are colorful and festive.

            Holi is known as the festival of colors and the festival of love. The word “Holi

originates from "Holika", the evil sister of demon king Hiranyakashipu. The story is as follows. King Hiranyakashipu had received a blessing that made him virtually indestructible. His newfound powers blinded him, he became arrogant, and grew to believe he was God. Therefore he believed that everyone should worship him as if he was one. However Prahlada, the kings son, remained devoted to Vishnu, the true god. This infuriated the king. He subjected Prahlada to cruel punishments for his disobedience, however nothing the king did changed Prahlada’s loyalty. Finally, Holika, Prahlada’s evil aunt, tricked Prahlada to sit on a pyre (religious structure used for cremation).  However Holika was wearing a cloak that made her immune to fire. As the fire began to roar the cloak flew from Holika and onto Prahlada, protecting him and causing Holika to burn in the fire. Therefore on the night of Holi many families build bondfires. The bonfire is a reminder of the symbolic victory of good over evil. The day after the fire is when the festival of colors begins. The best way to describe this celebration is a free-for-all carnival of colors. On this day everyone plays, chases and colors each other with dry powder and colored water, with some carrying water guns and water-filled balloons. Anyone and everyone is fair game, friend or stranger, rich or poor, man or woman, children and elders.

Even dogs aren't safe....

            The story of Purim is Quite different. Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire, where a plot had been formed to destroy them. Haman, royal vizer to King Ahasuerus, planned to kill all the Jews in the Empire, however his plans were ruined be his adopted daughter Esther, who had risen to become queen and also happened to be a Jew.   The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing. Over the years part of celebration includes dressing up, therefore in many ways it can be compared to Halloween.

            So on March 16^th my day went as followed. Our morning was spent on a variety of sessions where we learned more about each holiday. Once we were well versed in the religious stories, we headed out into the streets of Nepal. On Holi there is a big celebration in Durbar Square, we decided that this would be our destination, however first we would have to walk there. As we ventured out we prepared ourselves for the inevitable, getting colorful. As we walked down the streets water balloons fell from above, random strangers would chase us to smear paint on our faces. A few volunteers bought water guns in retaliation.

being attacked by water balloons by kids on the street

            When we arrived to Durbar Square it was the most insane day-time rave party I have ever set eyes on. Thousands of people were squeezed into the square, music blasted from everyone, and in the center was a trunk with a fire hose which was spraying water into the crowd.

While everyone was having an awesome time we couldn’t stay long because we had to go home and prepare for holiday #2. For Purim we were invited to a party at the Israeli Embassy, where we would all partake in a costume competition. I would be dressed in a costume made fully out of garbage and would be posing as Captain Planet, Personally I had been preparing my costume for weeks and was very excited!

Everyone left for the embassy at 7 dressed in costume. When we arrived we were greeted with wine and appetizers. The night was a mixture of socializing, networking, and an awkward dance party. When the night came to end I was both sad and releaved the day was over. While it amazing in every sense of the word, I was exhausted and ready to go to bed.

And that, my friends, Is what happens when you combined Holi and Purim. Aka, March 16^th, 2014.