Make Holi Fun: Use Herbal Colors

Holi, also called the Festival of Colors, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India, Guyana, Trinidad, the UK and Nepal. In West Bengal, Holi is also known as Dolyatra or Boshonto Utsav ("spring festival").

The festival begins by burning of the demoness Holika, Hiranyakashipu's sister, in huge bonfires at night. The next morning is the time to rejoice and celebrate. People move out of their houses to play Holi by throwing colored powder and water at each other. They greet each other and eat lots of mouth-watering delicacies, such as Gujiya, papad, sweets, and various other items that are a treat for everyone's taste buds. A special drink called thandai is prepared, sometimes containing bhang.

The day passes off in celebration and rejoice. It is only the next day that we get to see the newspaper full of heart-breaking news like a five year boy lost his eye-sight while playing Holi, many children developed temporary blindness, some people complaining about severe rashes all over their bodies, and so on. These are some of the harmful effects of playing Holi with chemically produced industrial dyes.

Gone are the days when people used to play Holi with natural colors and flowers. Now synthetically produced colors are being used to play Holi. These colors are associated with severe health hazards. The black pastes used in Holi is found to contain lead oxide which can result in renal failure. Silver color contains aluminium bromide and is found to be carcinogenic. Red color, on the other hand, contains mercury sulphate. The prussian blue used in the blue paste has been associated with contact dermatitis, while the copper sulphate in the green has been documented to cause eye allergy, puffiness and temporary blindness.

The colorants used in the dry colors, also called gulals, was found to be toxic, with heavy metals causing asthma, skin diseases and temporary blindness. Both of the commonly used bases in gulals—asbestos or silica—are associated with health issues.

Have we completely forgotten the meaning of the festival of Holi? Or have we turned insensitive towards others and even our own self? Holi is the festival when even the enemies unite and become friends again, and we are making this festival our own enemy. Colors, which are meant to spread brightness and joy all around, are being used to take away all the light and joy from someone's life. This is not what Holi is all about. Just ponder on this for a few minutes.

If you think that you want your Holi to be a festival of joy, start using natural colors. Herbal colors are safe for playing Holi and also have a medicinal significance. The colors are traditionally made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs prescribed by Āyurvedic doctors. So, no skin disease, no asthma, no temporary blindness, and no bad news on Holi this time. Play Holi with herbal colors.

Too Much of Media Attention to Valentine's Day

For past few years, no other festival has ever attracted so much of media attention than the Valentine's Day. In the era of globalization, the whole world has become one common place, with people of one country openly welcoming the culture of other nations. As a result, no festival can be considered as unique to one country or religion anymore. Like Christmas has become a universal festival, similarly, Durga Puja or Ganpati Puja are also celebrated with much pomp and show in many foreign countries. In such a scenario where people are no more prejudiced towards those belonging to other ethnic backgrounds, it is quite common for a festival like Valentine's Day to find acceptance worldwide.

In late nineties, some Hindu and Muslim activists did protest against the celebration of Valentine's Day in India. However, it did not have much impact on our society. Couples were free to express their love for each other. There were also many who did not want to celebrate this day because they did not attach much importance to the day. Whatever be the case, it was completely an individual's decision to celebrate it or not. It is only in recent times that we have started witnessing a lot surrounding the celebrations on this day. In fact, many state governments have started taking stringent steps to curb any kind of social unrest on this day. Why all this is happening? The answer is simple: too much of media attention to those handful of extremists who have been trying to gain some kind of political mileage by protesting against the V-day.

Who knew Muthalik ( the head of Sri Rama Sene) before his goons thrashed some young girls and boys sitting inside a Mangalore pub? For 1 week, we found all news channels showing detailed news reports on that episode, not to forget, the entire bio-data of this so-called Muthalik. Attracted by the wide scale media coverage on the nuisance created by Sri Rama Sene workers, many other big and small, extremist groups (both Hindu and Muslim) started raising their voice against the V-day. They were least bothered about protecting the rich Indian culture and heritage, their sole aim being able to gain some kind of media attention and publicity.

It's really pity that the Valentine's Day has been used by some groups for their political interests. Who is to be blamed for all this? It is only we who have given so much of attention to these groups for no reason. Second on the row to be blamed is our media for there is much more for them to capture and present to the viewers. The audience as well as the media need to be least bothered about groups like Sri Rama Sene and soon we will find them fight for better causes.

Changing Trends in The Gifts Meant For Your Valentine

14th February is a special day for the lovers. Known as the Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day, this day has always been celebrated as a special occasion where two people freely express their love for each other and exchange Valentine's Day gifts.

In earlier times, this day was celebrated by sending mutual love notes. However, since the 19th century, sending of valentines in the form of greeting cards became a common phenomenon. Amongst all forms of greeting cards, the heart-shaped cards have always been the most popular. It is a true symbol of the passion that two people share. The real story, however, is the sacrifice made by Saint Valentine for his beloved. On being rejected by his mistress, he was so heartbroken that he sent his still-beating heart to her as a token of his eternal love for her. However, cards depicting doves and cupid along with the heart symbol are also equally liked by people. During mid 19th century, hand-made Valentine's Day cards also became immensely popular. In fact, till date, Valentine's Day greeting cards are being considered as the most ideal gift for this day. This is the reason why this day is the second largest card-buying day of the year, worldwide, after Christmas.

As time passed by, the celebration of this day of love started involving more interesting gifts. People started clubbing flowers, stuffed toys, perfumes, and even confectionery with attractive greeting cards as a gift for their beloved. While red roses are considered just perfect for this day, people have started experimenting with other flowers as well, such as orchids, lilies, tulips, and many other exotic varieties. However, no one can deny the charm that is offered by red roses. In fact, even today, a red rose is considered synonymous with Valentine's Day.

Gift shops all across the world have also started offering various confectionery items as Valentine's Day gifts. The most preferred of them all is a wide assortment of chocolates. Heart-shaped chocolates have always been a favorite with lovers. Those who want to go to that extra bit for their beloved also love to team up a bottle of champagne with creamy lemon tarts, scrumptious brownies, luscious tirramisu and tasty yule logs. Wow! It's heaven in a box! This, however, demands quite a good budget. One can also impress his/her partner on Valentine's Day by simply gifting a good perfume brand. Of late, gifting perfumes has also become no less than a trend.

Another popular trend in Valentine's Day gifts is giving of soft toys such as teddy bears. Although, you are not a kid anymore, you can still get a cute, little teddy bear from your partner on Valentine's Day. What if you get a box of chocolates along with it! Won't it be the best day of your life?

At the end of the day, everyone wants to offer something different on the Valentine's Day. This is the reason why gift shops are coming up with new ideas every year for the Valentine's Day.

Why Should You Feel Scared on This Valentine's Day?

Celebrated on February 14, Valentine's Day is a special day on which lovers express their love for each other. On this day, people exchange mutual love notes in the form of “Valentines”. Every year, over one billion valentine's cards are sent worldwide, making it the second largest card-selling holiday after Christmas. This day is also marked by the exchange of flowers, confectionery and various other valentines day gifts between lovers.

Couples make great plans for this day. They want to make this day truly memorable. This is true for the people of not only Western countries, but also India. Today, Valentines Day is more of a universal festival. Back to my hometown, Kolkata, which is known as the “City of Joy” (more rightly, “City of Love”), Valentine's Day has always been very special. Couples there are free to express their love for each other, and that too, well in front of the beautiful Victoria Memorial. People there are hardly interested in bothering these love birds.

However, not every place in India is as liberal as Kolkata. In recent times, there have been many incidents in different corners of India which are enough to terrorize love-bound couples. A handful of troublemakers who claim themselves to be the so-called guardians of “Indian Culture” have been protesting against this day. They label this Day as a Christian celebration that erodes our cultural foundation. If someone can ask them, “Who has given them the authority to assume the role of a moral police?” Where are these people when a girl is gang raped? Is this not against our rich culture and heritage? What these people do when a woman tourist is molested by some sick Indian? Does such an act not defame our nation? In most cases, they do not have any answer. Their sole purpose is to gain some political mileage at the cost of the festive mood on the V-Day.

The recent horrendous pub attack at Mangalore is enough to speak about the awful situation in India which is no better than Taliban. The attack was carried out by Sri Ram Sena that is led by Pramod Muthalik. In his recent interview, he felt no remorse on the incident (some young girls and boys were publicly thrashed and molested; their crime being only that they were sitting in a pub). He has proudly announced that his Sena is all ready to stop the celebrations on this Valentine's Day and will continue to do so even in future. Now, with that being said, how many of you can really gather the courage to celebrate the day with your beloved?

Although, the Chief Minister of Karnataka has assured that no one will be allowed to take law in their hands, the pub attack followed by the nation-wide outcry against the incident has encouraged groups like Ram Sena to create nuisance on the V-Day as well. Shouldn't government ban such terrorist groups, when they are doing nothing except terrorizing young girls and boys? Shouldn't the task of moral policing be left to parents? Shouldn't our government deal with a tough hand with these goons? If the answer to all these questions is “Yes”, I can once again start believing that we are living in a democratic country where showing your love for someone is not a crime.