Happy Holi!

The alarm went off at exactly 7:30, just like everyday. But it was a Saturday and there was no office today. Akhil slapped his heavy fist on the snooze button of his Chinese alarm clock he had bought from the dollar store last week. Damned alarm.

Ten minutes later he woke up with a start. “Oh crap!” Today was Holi.

 

Akhil felt a pang in his stomach. He was going to miss home today more than ever. His first holi in a new town with hardly any Indian friends around. Nobody to smudge with color, no kids running around throwing water balloons at random people, no celebration of any sort for him. And then it occurred to him that holi in India would already be over - it was early evening there at this time. He smiled at the irony of that realization, but that sinking feeling came creeping back a second later.

He called up home and talked to everybody in the family. They were all there – his parents, uncles, aunts, all the kids. The only one missing was him.
At least he could call them up, if not be with them. Some consolation.

This lasted 30 minutes. It was now 9am and the day had just about begun for him. He had moved to New York last month after finishing grad school in Atlanta, and didn’t really have any friends he could visit or invite over.

“Let’s make some kheer to celebrate” he thought. He was a good cook, and the last time he made kheer was on India’s Independence Day when he had made a potful and taken to his office. Everybody had liked the rice pudding, as they called it.
An hour later the kheer was ready, but Akhil was even more stressed out. All this kheer on a festival and nobody to share it with. The loneliness was killing him.

Even Shakira didn’t help, and Shakira always worked for him.

Last year holi was so much better. He had a big bunch of Indian friends back in grad school and they had so much fun at the Indian Association sponsored celebrations. But now he was in a different corner of the country. Things were a little different this year around.
He called up his dearest buddy Rajiv, who had just about woken up. He was in a different time zone, but in the same situation as Akhil. They talked for a long time, discussing their lives and the multitude of options they had for spending their time. Rajiv had a suggestion - “maybe they do some celebration at the local temple?”
A quick Google search revealed that a temple a short drive from home indeed had some sort of holi celebration in the morning. It was almost noon now, but if he rushed he might make it.

Turned out he was too late.

But here he was, in a temple, after a couple years. Akhil believed in god, but not too much in the religious practices such as temple visits. In effect, he had stepped inside a temple after over two years today. But his heart was heavy, and maybe this was what he needed after all.

“Let me stay for 10 minutes, and then ill leave. I could try some meditation. Maybe that will make me feel better, like my parents keep telling me”.
A Tamil family was performing some ceremony and he watched fascinated. Another Gujarati couple, most probably newly weds, were also doing some pooja. The sounds of the priests filled the temple, as did the various smells emanating from the dhoop-battis. After watching them for a while, Akhil finally turned to the Ganesh idol, and prayed. For some contentedness in his life. And some peace of mind.

An hour later, he was still immersed in his meditation. He didn’t want to go back yet. It was as if he had rediscovered a missing part of his life. He was happy. He felt content. He wasn’t homesick. He was at peace with himself. He had a new friend.

“Happy holi dude” he said to himself.

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