Holi

Today is the Hindu celebration of Holi. When I asked about the meaning of Holi, I found that the story is somewhat similar to the Biblical account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It’s the story of a boy who had a very powerful father. The father wanted his son to worship him, but he refused. As a result, the father had him thrown into a fire. Apparently the father also had a daughter. This daughter was special because she could withstand fire. She was thrown into the fire with her brother to make sure her brother died. But, because of the boy’s devotion to do what was right, the fire didn’t burn him. Instead, the fire consumed his sister because she obeyed her father instead of obeying God. So Hindus celebrate the boy’s devotion to God.

Hindus celebrate Holi by lighting huge bonfires and spraying bright colored powder on each other. All of this is accompanied by the consumption of large quantities of alcohol and marijuana…which leads to a lot of brawls, as you can imagine. In fact, on my way to the hospital to use the internet, I heard a loud siren going off. I wasn’t sure where it was coming from until I saw a large crowd gathering on the hospital steps. The siren is to notify the entire compound of a mass casualty at the hospital. I stood there for awhile, watching the scene unfold, but with all of the people, it was really hard to tell what was going on. I’ll probably know more when Clint gets back this evening. There was maybe 30-40 people there.

Because Stan and Andrea live in a prominent Hindu area, they came up to Herbertpur during the celebration of Holi. It’s been such a fun few days because Lon and Sarah have also been up at Herbertpur. Unlike Stan and Andrea’s 3 hour drive, they had to take an 18-hour train ride, which actually ended up being a 27-hour train ride. Yikes! The three of us couples, along with Jeff & Janet, all celebrated Good Friday together yesterday morning. It has been great catching up with Lon and Sarah…and eating a lot of American food hasn’t been too bad either. ☺