Bright colours, water balloons, music and dance! That’s Holi for many of us. But, what is Holi without some bhang?
The two-day closure of liquor shops gave Holi revellers in the city the perfect excuse to indulge themselves, with liberal doses of the traditional bhang on Wednesday.
Vendors served what looked like Lassi or buttermilk and one enterprising man put up a banner too rechristening bhang as the innocuous Lassi near Begum Bazaar’s Chatri circle. Bhang, a traditional drink made using cannabis and milk, is associated with Lord Shiva and no wonder, many of these vendors had placed huge framed photographs of the Lord even if they shied away from announcing the sale of bhang as such.
A glass of bhang was available for Rs 20. “Nothing will happen. You can trust and drink. Make sure you have it happily and pray to Shiva for his blessings,” Susheel, who was seen having his chilled drink in the hot weather, offered unsolicited advice to a hesitant young man at one of the stalls
“You take two glasses of cold milk, add the mix along with sugar and your drink is ready. You can make two glasses out of a Rs 30 packet. But make sure you do not drink more than one glass at one go. This is pretty strong,” he suggested.
It’s like a scary movie for foreigners
At the English and Foreign Languages University (Eflu), the celebrations began as early as 8 am. The students made a mud pond in the middle of the football ground, caught hold of people, even foreigners, and threw them in it and danced. Quite a Holi it was for the guests.
“I thought these colours would not go. Many of us were scared and some were angry. But then, we enjoyed it just like any other student,” Zakia Al Ajrad, a Syrian student from the International Training Programme (ITP) at Eflu, told City Express. Another student, Wasi Ahmed from Yemen, a third-year BA English student, said, “The whole idea of mud pond was hilarious and a lot of us were reluctant but we enjoyed it.”
Hany Ahmed from Palestine, an ITP student, wasn’t amused. “I think foreigners, including myself, were not comfortable with people tearing off shirts of not only themselves but also of others,” he complained.