Holi Cow!

I'm in Delhi now, waiting to fly to Cambodia tonight. Spent the last few days in Varanasi, which is one of the holiest places for Hindus, who go there to bathe and worship at the River Ganges (the 'mother goddess'). The main event was yesterday's Holi Festival, which is a celebration of the Hindu New Year, and of the triumph of good over evil. Bonfires are lit the night before, and the day is spent getting merry and throwing paint at each other. This being Varanasi, I was expecting some hardcore spiritual paint throwing - maybe something like 'le tomatina'.

Not quite what I got. The first sign that all was not as expected was when the locals rigged up some HUGE speakers across the road from the guest house, and proceeded to pump out indian techno until late at night and again the next morning - so loud that it sounded like a nightclub inside my room (memories of Buduburum, except even worse)! Although there was some traditional celebrating going on behind closed doors (which I'll describe later), and some kids out and about thrwing buckets of coloured water at people, the streets during the day mainly belonged to the lads.

They hung around in groups, and as well as being painted they were also plastered - this being Varanasi, where cannabis adds to the spiritualism, on both weed and alcohol. It was mostly good natured dancing, hanging around, hugging people (I narrowly avoided getting a full on kiss on the lips by a guy reeking of liquor) and smearing paint. But it regularly spilled over into people literally ripping each others clothes off (why??), and even getting into fights - although these were quickly broken up. Basically an excuse to get hammered and let loose. Women stayed strictly indoors - and unfortunately it doesn't take too much imagination to think what would happen if they were foolish enough to venture outside.

I went round with a member of the family running the guest house and some of his friends. We stopped at a few groups of guys for some hugging and paint smearing, but mostly went visiting friends and family, where at each house we sat around having nibbles and polite chatter, along with a smear of paint on each others' foreheads and a hug. Apparently this is what the families do in thew evening - obviously once the yobs have fallen into a drunken sleep. I'm glad I saw this side of it. Many travellers - and especially girls - came with a romanticised picture and then indoors out of fear once they'd heard what it was really like.

Varanasi itself before the festival was quite nice (except probably the most touristy place i've been yet, and scam central). These are the most memorable bits:

• Seeing cremations - they happen publicly all the time along the Ganges as it ensures better karma. The ashes then go into the river - along with the corpses of people not eligible for cremation, and lots of sewage - in which locals do laundry, bathe, and even drink for good health!
• Seeing an untouchable (the lowest caste), who deal with cremations, sifting ashes through a sieve into the water - looking for jewelry to keep. In front of a sign proclaiming "Fortunate are those who live beside the Ganges"
• Seeing some Naked Monks - apparently a privilege that they were in town, as they only emerge from their homes in the jungles & mountains every 6 or 12 years
• Having my 15 year old auto rickshaw driver bribe a police officer to let us down a closed road, then upon breaking down, taking apart the engine to stick his finger into holes and rev the engine
• Seeing a dog feeding on a human corpse
• Getting an outdoor shave, beside the river