FULL POWER! FULL COLOUR!

COLOURS! COLOURS! COLOURS! LET THE GAMES BEGIN.

THE YOUNG AND THE OLD ARE IN ON IT. IF YOU BRAVE THE OUTDOORS ON THIS DAY YOU ARE A PART OF THE ACTION. NO BACKING OUT, NO HOLDS BARRED.

PURPLE PEOPLE SCRAMBLING UP ONTO ROOFTOPS EVERYWHERE. 

PRIME POSITION, EXCELLENT PROTECTION!

CRAZY COLOUR WAR MADNESS!!

EVERYONE IS IN ON THE ACTION, INHIBITIONS ARE BLASTED AWAY, COLOUR IS UNIVERSAL, EVERYONE LOOKS THE SAME. NO CASTE, NO JUDGEMENT.

A GROUP OF KIDS HANGING BY THE GHATS STEPS. EERILY EVERYONE ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE THEY'VE JUST BEEN AT WAR...

THIS LOCAL IS ONE PSYCHADELIC TECHNICOLOUR TRANCE DANCER. DISCOMAN WE CALL HIM, COMPLETE WITH PURPLE STAINED TEETH. 

HITCHING A RIDE OUT OF TOWN TO A FARMHOUSE FOR SOME 'RAJASTHANI FOOD AND DRINK' WHICH TRANSLATED AS 20 INDIAN MEN HOSING DOWN THE WOMEN AND TRYING TO GIVE SAND SCRUBS!

AVATAR.

AFTER REALISING WE WEREN'T GETTING A RIDE BACK INTO TOWN OR ANY RAJASTHANI FOOD, WE WALKED OURSELVES  BACK INTO PUSHKAR ALONG THE DESERTED ROADS..

ARRIVING BACK AT MY GUEST HOUSE FOR AN HOUR LONG FACE SCRUB, THIS PALES IN COMPARISON TO HOW I LOOKED A FEW MOMENTS AGO!

THE AFTERMATH.

HOLI FESTIVAL. COLOUR WAR. A COMPLETE AND TOTAL COLOUR FUCK FESTIVAL.  NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED. WARNINGS ARE ISSUED THE DAY BEFORE, 'FOREIGNERS STAY INSIDE, WOMEN BEWARE!' NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY! IT'S THE ONLY DAY OF THE YEAR WHERE MEN ARE ALLOWED TO TOUCH WOMEN AND LET GO OF THEIR REPRESSION. MEN GRAB FROM ALL DIRECTIONS, MANY TIMES WITH TOO MUCH AGGRESSION, SMEARING PAINT ONTO FACES AND THROWING COLOUR BOMBS THAT GO OFF LIKE LARGE EXPLOSIONS OF SMOKE. A VISUAL FEAST OF COLOUR STARTING WITH BRIGHTS TURNING INTO A MURKY SEWERAGE WATER COLOUR. FROM COLOUR CHIC TO DIRTY RAVE. 

  THERE'S NO ESCAPING IF YOU DARE TO STEP OUTDOORS! BY 10AM IT'S A FULL BLOWN TRANCE PARTY WITH PURPLE PEOPLE STOMPING IN THE MARKETPLACE. AFTER BEING ATTACKED BY GROUPS OF MEN AND FINALLY NAVIGATING WAY OUT OF THE MOSH PIT, WE FOUND RELIEF FOR A MOMENT IN THE SIDE STREETS. AFTER A BIT OF R'N'R WE BRAVED THE ONSLAUGHT OF DIRTY RAVERS TO BATTLE THE COLOUR WAR YET AGAIN. INSANE, YES!

THE FESTIVAL RUNS FROM 10AM TO 3PM, AFTER THAT SHOPS OPEN, CHAI FLOWS AND BUSINESSES RUN AS USUAL, ONLY WITH PURPLE PEOPLE SERVING YOU.

THE TOWN LOOKS LIKE A FILM SET, THE VILLAGE LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE A BOMB HIT. CRAZY AND TOTALLY CREEPY, THE AFTERMATH FILTERS THROUGH THE FOLLOWING DAYS AS A REMINDER TO THE FRENZY THAT WAS HOLI. 

AN AMAZING, INSANE, INTENSE, AVATAR EXPERIENCE!