– using ‘Festival of Colours’ to help ease ethnic tension

By Michel Outridge

PHAGWAH or ‘Holi’ was celebrated as per usual in some quarters here yesterday, in spite of the acrimonious political climate, with Guyanese of every ethnicity coming together for the same cause.

It was this very “coming together” that helped transform the otherwise tense atmosphere into one of festivity and a kaleidoscope of colour in several city wards and their environs.
The Guyana Chronicle visited Kitty and Campbellville where pockets of people were out celebrating in the usual wild abandon, dancing and cavorting and dousing each other with water and regular talcum powder and whatever other coloured powders (abeer and abrak) associated with the festivity took their fancy.

And while there was no one out on the streets celebrating the festival in suburban Prashad Nagar and Sophia, it was certainly a horse of a different colour over in Cummings Lodge, on the lower East Coast, as several families had come together with their neighbours and family-friends, and from the look of things, they were bent on having a jolly good time.
They were observing the festive holiday by throwing and spraying water on each other by the buckets and with the aid of a few water guns.

It was in the said Cummings Lodge, 9th Street to be precise, that the Guyana Chronicle encountered an entire family that was ‘soaked to the bone’ saying they are ‘Playing Phagwah’ and everything was peaceful there.

In Cummings Lodge, villagers were out in their numbers to celebrate Phagwah; many had even set up firesides, and were preparing the traditional ‘seven-curry’ with dhal and rice.
They also had sweetmeats on hand, in the form of pera, prasad, mettai, gulab jamoon, vermicelli and sweet rice.

The conviviality was the same, too, in neighbouring Industry Crown Dam, where Vinod Basdeo and his family and neighbours were ‘cooking up a storm’.

He explained that annually they would come together and cook and share whatever is prepared with friends, family and neighbours.

Basdeo said it is a family tradition, and nothing has changed in that village, where Afro-Guyanese were also out celebrating Phagwah.

Tancia Inniss, a resident of Industry Crown Dam, was out enjoying the holiday with her two daughters, and she stated that everything was going well, as she was celebrating with her Hindu brothers and sisters.

Further down the road, a group of men seated on a horse-drawn cart, had seemingly had their fill of celebrating Phagwah and were ‘washing down with some beverages’.

DE VILLAGE DJ

A few doors away, Roland Singh was the village DJ for the day, as he had his music system in his yard entertaining the village with religious songs to mark the occasion.
“I am also taking a drink with the boys, waiting on the ‘seven-curry’ to finish cooking,” he said.

Also in that village, Shanta Somra was busy tending to a number of pots on three large firesides in her front yard, where she was preparing ‘seven-curry’ to feed the entire village.
“Every year we do this, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary,” Shanta said, adding: “And we usually have a good time, where anyone can come and get something to eat.”

Somra stated that they started Phagwah celebrations since Sunday night, and were still at it on Monday.

At Plaisance, a predominantly afro-Guyanese community a few villages away, people were out on the streets in their numbers, but surprisingly, they were not engaged in celebrating Phagwah. The story was the same in Vryheid’s Lust, but in Better Hope, scores of youths of every race were out on the streets with their blackened and coloured faces walking through the village, going door to door observing Phagwah.

One group told the Guyana Chronicle that they had already been to Vryheid’s Lust and were on their way to Plaisance to celebrate Phagwah.

Residents of Better Hope were in canter trucks and other open-back vehicles going through the village, spraying water on passers-by and each other, while some young men took the opportunity to engage in a friendly game of cricket on the road.
Montrose, Success, La Bonne Intention and other East Coast villages celebrated Phagwah in the minority.

As for Albouystown, especially on Hogg Street, the Afro-Guyanese, the Indo-Guyanese and people of other ethnicities were celebrating as one.

They were indeed united for this occasion, and on almost every street, people were out soaking each other with water and coloured powders.

ORIGINS

Phagwah, or Holi, is an ancient Hindu festival which later became popular among non-Hindu communities as well. Holi heralds the arrival of spring after winter; it signifies the victory of good over evil, and is celebrated as a day of spreading happiness and love. The festival is also celebrated as thanksgiving for a good harvest.

Holi celebrations start on the night before the actual day with a Holika Dahan, where people gather to perform religious rituals in front of a bonfire, and pray that their internal evil be destroyed the way Holika, the sister of the demon king, Hiranyakashipu, was killed in the fire. The next morning is celebrated as Rangwali Holi, a free-for-all festival of colours, where people smear each other with colours and drench each other with water. Water guns and water-filled balloons are also used to play and colour each other. People visit family, friends and foes to throw coloured powders on each other, laugh and gossip, then share Holi delicacies, food and drinks.