The festival of colours is fast losing its charm given the high environmental degradation due to excessive water wastage, incessant burning of wood during the Holi bonfire and hooliganism.
Holi can also be quite a messy affair given the synthetic colours, which are known to have a high concentration of lead, chromium, red soil and silica. Gone are the days when devotees of Krishna thronged Vrindavan and celebrated Holi with colours made from flowers . The colours available in the market nowadays have often been the cause of irritation of the eyes and skin, and have also been responsible for causing an allergy at times. Research states that dark colours like red, black and green contain mercury sulphite, lead oxide and copper sulphate, which could cause skin cancer. These colours have also been responsible for skin rashes and allergies among young children.
“It’s the chemical content that harms your eyes and skin, causes itching and reaction. All of this can be avoided if organic and eco-friendly colours are used. Even inhaling of toxic chemicals are harmful and can cause allergic asthma, congestion of eyes and urticaria,” says Dr. Kalpana Kateen.
Apart from the problems associated with synthetic colours, Holi is soon turning out to be an unpleasant experience for women due to hooliganism. Quiz women on whether they would choose to celebrate Holi with friends or stay indoors and you would be shocked to know that most women would choose to stay at home given the harrowing experiences they have encountered during the festival in the past.
According to 21-year-old Sonia Jacob, not all Holi experiences are as memorable. She says, “I was on my way back from work and a bunch of rowdy kids started pelting eggs at me!” It was a horrible experience for Jacob, who was covered with egg yolk and egg shells by the time she reached home.
Another common complain among women is the rise in eve-teasing during Holi. Hooliganism has killed the spirit of Holi and is giving people enough reason to stay indoors rather than step out and enjoy the festival. “Eve-teasers have a field day on Holi. They think that they can get away with absolutely anything by just saying “Holi Hain, Bura Na Mano”, adds Ripal Malhotra, an engineer, who had a bad experience last year on Holi, when a bunch of men tried to misbehave with her in the pretense of applying colour on her face. Ripal has been careful not to step out on Holi since then as the experience has left a bad taste in her mind.
While it may seem that the festival is losing its charm, no all hope is lost. There are others who plan to keep up to the spirit of Holi intact by celebrating the festival with organic colour. “The excessive water wastage during Holi is a huge concern. So, my friends and I’ll play dry Holi with organic colour,” says 18-year-old Jaiseel Vora.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}