HOLI MANILA IS BACK!

- March 11, 2023, Saturday.

- Holi is back in Manila this 2023 after years of pandemic-caused disruptions! As usual, it was held in SM Mall of Asia By the Bay. Unlike in the earlier iterations of Holi in Manila, this year is was mainly organized by the Indian Cultural Association of the Philippines (ICAP), in partnership with other Indian associations such as the Indian Women in Enterprise (I-WE) and non-Indian organizations such as Asia Society Philippines. Both ICAP and I-WE are young associations in the Indian community, which makes this event more significant. ICAP was supposed to hold it's first ever Holi in 2020, but lockdowns were imposed shortly before they were able to hold the event. This making the 2023 Holi celebration a few years in the making - and it was just amazing!!

- For those not familiar with Holi, Holi is one of the major Indian festivals. In the Philippins, this is one of two major Indian festivals celebrated publicly by the growing Indian community, the other being Diwali (known as "the festival of lights" and takes place in Autumn.) The Holi Festival welcomes spring, and is best known for people throwing colored powder and spraying colored water at each other. There are also other more detailed explanations depending on the religion, such as Hinduism. Holi is also not too common in Southern India as a religious celebration, but some South Indians do decide to participate and play with color during Holi.

Love the costumes!

Getting ready.

Throwing color at each other is very much appropriate.

- In the Philippines, Holi is always done in a controlled manner, which I appreciate the most. The organizers always provide the colored powder packets, and are certified hypoallergenic. The other important thing to me too, is that they colored powder they chose easily comes off in the wash!   

- Unlike the past, the organizers chose a side of MOA that was more spacious, so it was more comfortable going around the kiosks (mostly food stalls). It was also easier to find chairs and tables when I needed to eat. The stalls present were facilitated by I-WE, who tapped on Indian women entrepreneurs (most of which specialize in food products.) 

Do try Savories and Sweets by Karina! They make some of the best homecooked Indian meals! (You may reach them in IG or Facebook, just search for their store name.)

Many many Indian food stalls!

- I went around the venue alone, but I was very happy to reconnect with old friends and some whom I have communicated with in online platforms during the pandemic. Truly, Indian events like these feel like the multiverse of my lives as I get to meet so many people I've encountered in various situations in the past.

- The program was also a mood lifter (because it's Holi after all!) From bhangra performances, devotion dances, and the endless beats of Indian music, there was not a single dull moment from the blazing afternoon until sunset.

A few words from ICAP! That's Ms. Shalini Saha, the main organizer of Holi Manila!

The main highlight! Holi hai!

Endless dances.

So many people.

The day won't end without bhangra!!

I look like the 80s spat me out. But hey I love colors so I don't mind!

Some people had way too much color (but that also is quite appropriate!)

With Roshan, the resident host of Holi in the Philippines and one of the best hosts ever! (And a good fiend too!)

- I've attended various Indian events in and out of the Philippines. Without biases, I've always had some of the best Indian celebrations here in the Philippines - like Holi Manila! Congratulations to all the organizers, especially ICAP and I-WE, for finally bringing Holi back to Manila! This was something I truly missed during the pandemic! 

Holi Hai!!: India's Holi Festival 2015 at SM Mall of Asia

- March 1, 2015, Sunday.

- India's color-explosive festival "Holi" has once again brought in Filipinos, Indians, Fil-Indians, and other foreigners to SM Mall of Asia - By the Bay, to experience India's folk/street-party culture. The event was organized, for the third time, by Asia Society of the Philippines, Sing India, and of course, the Indian Embassy of the Philippines; Holi was first organized as a public event in Manila in 2013 by these same organizers. I was able to attend Holi in 2013 (click here,) and I can say that this year, the crowd, the color, and the excitement has tripled!

The official poster.

- The better treat this year was that the embassy decided to waive the entrance fees of former delegates of the ASEAN-India Student Exchange Program, plus a companion; this is to encourage more people to experience the vibrant, rich, and diverse cultures of India. Since I was an "alumnus" of the 2012 ASEAN-India Student Exchange Program, I go t to avail this perk, and I decided to bring my neighbor Charmaine with me; she also went with me during the 2013 Holi. I didn't get to go to last year's Holi because I was in Hong Kong for an academic conference (read about it here, here, and here.)

- Holi is celebrated for a number of reasons. One reason is to celebrate the joy of the coming of spring, when there are plenty of crops, which will lead to plenty of harvest. Another reason is to commemorate the Prahlad's destruction of the demon (and Prahlad's aunt,) Holika; Prahlad was the son of the demon king Hiranyakashipu, but despite this, Prahlad was a devotee of the preserver god Vishnu. The last punishment for Prahlad's devotion to Vishnu was to be burned with his supposedly fire-proof aunt Holika. Vishnu used his powers to protect Prahlad from the fire, and burn Holika instead. Apart from this story, other regions in India use a story that features Krishna throwing color at Radha, his spiritual consort (i.e. a rather upgraded definition of "soulmate,") and all the other gopikas (cowgirls.)  Krishna felt that the other girls did not like him because of his dark skin, so the color-throwing was done to mask Krishna's dark skin, an insecurity of his, as well as the skin of all the other girls. This color-throwing, hence, was celebrated as Holi. Bringing things to the current age, and in Manila, apart from celebrating Holi based on the three main reasons above, Holi was brought to Manila as a way to strengthen the brotherhood of the Filipinos, and the Indians in the Philippines.

- This year's Holi had several stalls and booths that taught basic yoga, provided instructions and materials for making rangoli (an Indian folk art that uses colored powder to make auspicious images,) sold Indian clothes and jewelry (mostly by the members of the Indian Ladies Club,) and drew henna. The Indian Embassy also had a special booth that gave away free Hindi books for children, and some pamphlets and booklets on India's tourist spots. Of course, I got more Hindi books for myself, for reading comprehension practice.

Yoga session with a cute Indian child.

Rangoli.

People going crazy even before the event.

- Apart from my neighbor, I also got to reunite with some of my co-delegates from the 2012 ASEAN-India exchange. While we enjoyed the event since there were things that reminded us of our experiences in India, I had to be a diplomatic usher, and bring my co-delegates to say our hellos/namastes and thanks, and take some photos with the people from the Indian Embassy who personally invited us to join Holi (i.e. First Secretary Dr. Suresh Kumar, and of course, the ambassador, H.E. Lal Duhthlana Ralte;) I was the only one among us who has met both of them beforehand, so I had the job of spotting these VIPs in this rowdy festival.

Neighbor pow(d)er!!

ASEAN-India Co-delegates.

- I also got to say hello to some of my thesis respondents, all of which are second-generation Indians in Manila, who came to attend Holi. I am glad that they still recognize me, since I have only met them once or twice in person. I was even more surprised to get hellos from other Indians living in Manila with whom I've had brief encounters during my visit to the ambassador's house for the flag hoisting event during the 66th Republic Day (click here to read about it.)

- The highlight of Holi, the throwing of the gulal powder, was done around 4pm. I had a not-as-nice shot this year, compared to before, since the position of the sun and the barricades gave big lighting and angle challenges to people taking photographs. The first Holi in Manila was done during lunch time, which gave perfect lighting, although that meant awful sunburns; the second Holi and this year was moved to late afternoon , which was good for minimizing sunburns, but that meant photography challenges. (Also, the prevalence of selfie sticks proved to be a pet peeve because they photobombed otherwise nice/decent photos; the longer the selfie stick, the worse.)

Before the countdown.

Selfie sticks: the bane of my existence. Well, not really. More like just a pet peeve.

More colors.

My neighbor and an enthusiastic person beside her.

More for you, and more for you!!

Jasmine, my friend, and respondent.

My co-delegates and I, with First Secretary Dr. Suresh Kumar from the Indian Embassy.

-  Holi, in India, is a really wild festival. Imagine the whole country throwing colored powder at one another. Compared to India, the Holi here in Manila is "extremely tame," but for someone who's not used to rowdy parties, I think that the Holi in Manila is still wild nonetheless - which makes Holi fun, even though getting myself "dirty" isn't my usual definition of fun. Well, Holi's an exception; it's one of the rare times that I allow myself to get "dirty."

- After the powder-throwing, we went to the stalls selling Indian food. I had some pani puri, idli with sambar - both of which are not as easy to find in restaurants here in Manila - and some good old roti canai.

I missed Indian food so so much.

 - After we ate, the ambassador arrived and gave some remarks on fostering the brotherhood of the Indians and the Filipinos. If was more than amusing to see the ambassador getting colored and dancing around. I was more amused that his two daughters remembered me from the flag hoisting event, said hello to me, and asked how my SLR was. (I left my SLR at home, the one I received from the awarding at the flag-hoisting event, and brought my handy and trusted digicam instead. After all, I didn't want to risk damaging my SLR from all the flying/lingering colored powder that could get inside my SLR; my digicam was easier to manage for this kind of event.)

H.E. Lal Duhthlana Ralte.

My co-delegates and I (and a bit of my neighbor) with the ambassador.

- The rest of the afternoon was filled with dance performances, although most of the dances were quite modern, unlike before, which had a good balance of traditional/classical, and modern dancing. Despite this, most of the people still enjoyed everything, Of course, Bollywood songs and [Punjabi] bhangra songs added "Indianness" to the festival.

Bhangra dancing.

Our emcees Roshan and Migel.

Desi Boyz.

Everyone needs a bit more color, no?

- The event, apparently, had a second powder-throwing countdown/ceremony, during sunset. Fortunately, the sunset gave some better (and more dramatic) lighting. The better shots I had was a consolation for the not-really-satisfactory-based-on-my-standards photos during the first powder-throwing countdown/ceremony.

Second powder-throwing segment.

Probably the best shot of the day.

Yay!!

The toddler was having a lot of fun!!

This uncle....

....did this to my face. :|:|:|:|

More bhangra dancing.

- We all walked towards the "mini-bazaar;" we bought some shawls and got more books. On the way to the mini-bazaar, we also got to meet some alumni from the 2014 batch (last year's batch) of the ASEAN-India Exchange program. I was glad that I recognized one of them who happened to face my direction, and he did too - lo, instant connection! It was my first time to meet them in person so I wasn't sure if my eyes were deceiving my again. (Back story: while they were preparing for their delegation trip last year, some of them stumbled upon my blog entries about our ASEAN-India batch. Some of them added me on FB so they could ask me more questions and tips on how to prepare for the trip. It felt nice to know that my blog is reachable in the vast ocean that is the internet, and that the things I've been writing here, supposedly for fun, have actually helped some people.)

Dancing until night.

-My codelegates, my neighbor, and I got tired, so we spent the time left watching the people dance nonstop on stage until the sun completely set. One of the emcees had to cut the crowd since the stage couldn't support the weight of everyone. The people loved to dance so much that even as we left, the people were still dancing. Right now, I am still having a hard time scrubbing the gulal powder off my me, and I am hoping that the gulal powder will wash off my clothes without problems, I can say that attending this year's Holi was yet another "colorful" experience from the monotony of daily life - especially as I write my thesis these days.




** I would also like to say hello and thanks to the random people in the event who said hello to me after recognizing me as "the blogger with the Indian/cultural stuff" or "the guy who has that site with the Indian stuff." I never really considered myself as a formal blogger, unlike my good friend and sometimes partner in (legally-approved) crime, thetummytrain.com, but like I mentioned earlier, it felt nice to know that my blog entries are searchable, reachable, informative, and helpful. It makes me more inspired to experience more things, and write about them, and share them to people.

** Hello again to the 2014 ASEAN-India alumni that my co-delegate and I got to meet earlier. Too bad we only had time for short talks. Again, thank you also for trusting the contents of my blog during your preparations for the trip last year.

** Hello to my thesis respondents, let's hope I graduate soon. Huehue.  

Rang Barse!! (Color-Lashed!): India's Holi Festival in Manila

- March 24, 2013, Sunday.

- The Asia Society of the Philippines has brought the Indian festival named "Holi" to Manila, and was celebrated earlier this afternoon in SM Mall of Asia, by the bay. Holi is celebrated by the participants throwing colored gulal powder, or spraying usual/colored water at each other. It is celebrated to mark the transition from winter to spring, or to celebrate harvest. Hinduism tells a story about holi, where the demon king Hiranyakashipu became angry at his son Prahlad, because he was a devotee of Vishnu, rather than Hiranyakashipu, who has gained many boons from the gods, and wanted to play god himself. Hiranyakashipu wanted to kill his son, but Prahlad always made it out alive and unharmed. The final sentence was for Prahlad to sit on his aunt Holika's lap, and both of them will be burned; Holika was fire-proof because of a boon given to her. Prahlad prayed to Vishnu, was miraculously was unharmed by the fire, and Holika was surprisingly burned by the flames. Holika turns to ashes, and Prahlad's salvation through devotion was the root of the Holi celebration. Interestingly, "Holi" gets its name from "Holika." Others claim that holi was also related to the unending love of Krishna (the eithth avatar of Vishnu,) and his lover, Radha. The exact day of Holi from 2013 will be this Wednesday, the 27th of March.

- I've received word from schoolmates in UP weeks ago about the Holi festival that was celebrated in SM Mall of Asia earlier. I was hesitant to go at first, since I knew how wild and messy Holi could be, and there's a possibility that the colored powder would take time to wear of from my clothes and my body parts. I would be leaving for the Holy Week, and I did not want to look like I rainbow vomited on me, so I took extra measures to protect myself from the flying colors and heat. Good thing my Indian friend Roshni gave me some tips, such as placing lotion or baby oil on the skin and hair to make the colors easily wash off.

- I invited Charmaine and Riezeryl to celebrate Holi with me, and they immediately agreed. (I guess this is a sign that I have semi-Indianized my friends.) I met them today at 10am, and went to MOA to register and pay the 100php entrance fee. We also met up with Charmaine's officemate Val.

I had palak panner, or spinach with cottage cheese; one of my favorites.

Indians taking over the stage, dancing their own bhangra numbers.

A Sikh.

From SingIndia band.

They were having fun with their roti canai.

They're gonna dance.

We have our own gulal powder packs!! Yay!!

- We first had lunch in the venue, of course a very Indian lunch, and walked around to watch the Indians dancing on stage, and other excited participants who started to throw colors even before the countdown. Finally, at around 1pm, colors and flower petals flew in all directions, as drums and cheers livened up the color-splashing ceremony.

Holi Hai!!

My contribution to Holi: My pack of yellow gulal powder. HAHA.

A face among the crowd.

All colored!!

With my makeshift turban and lungyi (sarong.)

- Apart from throwing colors at each other, cultural performances such as Punjabi bhangra numbers and Kathak numbers were done, as well as other modern dances by the Indian transnationals in Manila. The dance number done by the cute little Indian girls dressed up in their Rajasthani lehenga-cholis (a skirt-blouse combination) was one of the crowd favorites.

Long time no see!!

The "Mere Dholna" Krishna-Radha Kathak dance.

Cute Krishna!!

- Charmaine, Riezeryl, and Val went inside the mall to cool themselves, as the sun was being unbearably hot. I opted to stay to observe more. Interestingly, I saw other people I knew who also joined in the festivities, such as my Indian friend Hitesh, and my Atenean friend Ceej.

Desi Boys,

and Desi Girls.

ITTTT'S BHANGRA TIME!!!!

I am officially one of them -____-

Nice person who smiled for my camera.

Another nice person.

Second bhangra.

- The main event ended with a second bhangra number. Afterwards, games and other minor events took place. I left after the main program, since that was what I really wanted to see and experience; after all, this is my first Holi. I changed into my street clothes once more, and looked for Charmaine and company in the food court. We ate for a while, and left for home. Despite the extreme heat, we were glad that it did not rain like the other days, and that the colors removed easily from our skin (and hopefully our clothes.) As for me, I never thought I'd celebrate Holi here in the Philippines, and so it's an item off my all-things-Indian-to-experience bucket list. Right now, I am contemplating on how to remove this sunburn that makes me look like tocino (sweet-cured meat) or bacon, but more than that, I am looking forward to celebrating Diwali (Indian festival of lights,) like I always do, this November 3.