BANGALORE: You can either love the festival or hate it. Holi has only two genres of fans. Those who love the festival, go all out to have sheer unadulterated fun, even if it means getting down, dirty and messy. And now with the festival right around the corner, its time to stack up on the coloured powder, the water balloons and the pichkaris. Holi is all about getting together and having fun. But the only hitch is, the kind of colour used. How about kissing the chemical colours good-bye and trying the
organic colours this Holi?
As the name suggests organic colours are made using natural products. They do not have any sort of chemical content in them. “Did you know that most of the colours that are readily available in loose packets are adulterated with oxidised metals and industrial dyes mixed with engine oil, mercury sulphate, lead oxide and copper sulphate to name a few, all of which are to be blamed in precluding the festive hangover,” says Krishan Gupta, MD Organic India Limited.
He also adds that in some cases, the powder is even mixed with a bit of mica, to give it a little shiny effect. “When this is applied directly to the skin, These harmful chemicals can cause skin allergies, temporary blindness, renal failure,
paralysis or even death,” says Gupta. He further elaborates that though the colour may be applied only superficially, it has the potential to seep into the skin and enter the blood vessels, which is poisonous to the system. “Imagine walking around with that kind of chemical in your system,” he cautions.
If that was not bad enough, these colours also cause harm to the environment. “To wash these stubborn colour stains, litres of water and cakes of soaps and detergent and some times even kerosene and turpentine is required. And in times like today, where water is a precious commodity, this is such a colossal waste,” Gupta says.
This is when the natural colours step in and come to our rescue. These colours have no chemicals and are made using absolutely natural products. For instance, the yellow gulal in reality is actually turmeric powder, while the pink gulal is derived from beetroot and rose petals and the green gulal is extracted from a combination of the three varieties of tulsi leaves.
Unlike the regular colours, these colours do not dry or irritate the skin, they are in fact good for health. “Think about it, turmeric is known to be good for the skin, while tulsi is known for its medicinal properties. On the other hand, irritation and dryness caused by chemical colours is only a minor issue, there have been instances when the colours have caused severe skin problems. If the colour enters the eyes, mouth or the ears, they can cause a number of health problems as well,” he asserted. Gupta also mentions that people have finally started understanding the importance of organic colours. “At the moment we are making only three colours, but by next year orange and blue will also be added to the list,” he adds.
Give the chemicals a skip this Holi and opt for the organic option. Herbal gulal by Organic India is available in Nilgiris in Kagdaspura and CV Raman Nagar and Mk Ahmad store in HSR Layout.