We all make the Festival of Colours, Holi, our own in our own peculiar way –for the folks in Anna Catherina of the West Coast of Demerara this truth is proven over and over each year.

Sun up, as early as 7:00am and the sounds you hear are the Holi songs like the popular ‘Let’s play Holi’ and other Hindi filmi songs.

Once you get up and decide to step out of your house, be prepared to be soaked because no amount of pleading will get you out of it, unless of course you really object because of religious reasons.

The children, already having taken to the streets, have the most fun. Armed with water-guns, buckets, abeer and abrack, they enjoy themselves tremendously.

Pretty soon there are groups of both children and adults walking around the village, some organized from the local mandirs in the village. Moving from one home to the other they spread the Holi cheer and have a blast.

As per tradition, the water works stop at noon and the environment is coloured with  traces of red, blue, pink and purple powders that were thrown around.

In between, the women, sometimes with the help of men, manage to rustle  up a meal and a plethora of sweetmeats. Everything from vermicelli, custard, pera and parasad, among other delicacies, is made. Relatives and friends are  treated and neighbours get their portion as is the norm in the close knit neighbourhood.

By the end of the day, most are garishly multi-coloured, sometimes barely recognizable, as they celebrate the spring festival and usher in the Hindu New Year.