7 March, Jaipur– Bharata Yatra 2010
With Amma, celebration of colours is a daily event and every day is a Holi. It is up to us to make the best of this daily celebration. That was exactly what happened at Jaipur. The house where Amma stayed became a place for Holi celebration. When Amma was starting out to Delhi from Jaipur, around 70 members of the family gathered around her. They requested to sing and play Holi with her. Amma was asked to sit on a chair. There was singing already in the air, energized with the accompaniment of dolaks and manjeera (kaimani).
With the full spirit of celebration, the girls around Amma started dancing to the tunes of ‘Radhe Radhe Radhe’. The mother of the house, a very elderly lady, joined the festivities to the thrill of everyone around by coming to the forefront, dancing in front of Amma and then holding Amma’s hands as she danced to the tune.
As the girls danced and swirled around, Amma asked for manjeera and started playing it, leading the festivities. As the tempo increased, devotees started showering colourful flowers on Amma, colouring the area yellow, rose, and dark yellow. Amma was enjoying every minute of it as the cheer grew louder. The cheer became shouts of “holi, holi, holi”. The owner of the house and his daughter started dancing, holding Amma’s hands, reminding us all of the beautiful play between Lord Krishna and the Gopis.
As the event calmed down, more flowers showered on Amma added colourful beauty. This very family had celebrated Holi with Amma some years ago. But this year, the day with Amma became their Holi.
–Kannadi