Holi fiesta, Madivala market, 2018!

During school days, for me, Festival was all about delicious food, shopping, holiday, get-together, skip studies, and a fun-filled day. Holi has been the favorite festival from springtime of my life. Bonfire and colors make the festival more special. There were those special costumes and a great joy in getting ready such as oiling hair, spreading moisturizer on the skin and loading water gun for Holi play.

But as we grow, individuals become more conscious, increased responsibilities, busy work days, family and social pressure acts like a virtual barrier and between true colors of Holi and Us. Holi celebration with Madivala market children is like reliving the childhood Holi festival days – this exerts a magnetic force on the individual to celebrate Holi with Madivala market children.

Holi is celebrated at Madivala with utmost joy and enthusiasm every year. One weekend, back-or-forth of Holi festival, is blocked to celebrate Holi with the Madivala children. Volunteer come up with new ideas to make the celebration historic. Fiesta included fun games, titbits, music and Holi play.

Fun activities  and games that proved to be the method of learning and caching memory, fun learning.

After physical-cum-brain storming fun activity, everybody was in need of a titbit break. Volunteers and children shared “Chocolates, fruits, love and care” among themselves. Meanwhile, the volunteers spoke to children about the Holi festival and shared their knowledge about the festival and Holi colours. Each one of had our own story, Holika Dahan, Rangowali holi and significance of colours: Red-love, Blue-Krishna’s eyes, Green-new beginning, Yellow-anti septic; all had fun listening and speaking out with one another. The real celebration, drenching and staining one another with colours, followed the Holi interactive session.

Holi celebration is incomplete without the dance and music and in absence of music systems volunteers turned on the music player on cell-phone to build the party mood. To keep the Holi festival fun last longer, Volunteers build the dance floor by performing few well know steps like ” Gangam style step”, “Michel Jackson step”, “bike riding pose”, “Bangalore public bus travel pose etc.

Madivala street bloomed like the rainbow. The celebration was filled with learning, love, laughter, and fun!

Volunteering with CRY for Madivala PAG is blissful and uplifts self-esteem. Best platform to try out skills, in spare time, to make difference in the children’s lives and in the community.

Soumya Patil

CRY, Madiwala PAG