Colours of Intoxication

Imagine you're walking down a city street in India. Spring has arrived and the sun is shining brightly. The level of excitement in the air is contagious. From around the corner a child runs out and throws a water balloon at you, giggling as he runs to find his next target. A cloud of colour bursts into the air as you realize that the balloon wasn't just holding water. It was also holding coloured powder in celebration of the Hindu Holi Festival of Colours.

So this year, 2010 as always India goes to celebrate one more Holi. As always people apply and splutter various colours on almost everyone they know and yes they don't really know. Originally a festival to celebrate good harvests and land fertility, it also remembers events in Hindu mythology. Today, it brings together Indians, Nepalese and others who celebrate with eating, singing, dancing, colourful games and bonfires. Holi is especially known as a ‘colourful celebration’, named thus as it is people mark the day by colouring themselves and throwing colours at each other. Friends and family cover each other’s faces, hair and clothing with colourful powders; painting even faces and hair. People go out spreading colours throughout the streets.

Now comes the thing, for which this post was meant for. Let me introduce you to cannabis indica. Google gave me that scientific name for our own favorite "Bhang". Some call it Indian hemp, some soft drug and biologists call it Cannabis Indica. In many places people get drunk in Bhang if not other alcholic beverages. Yes people get cleverly masked in unrecognizable formats where one drinks and lashes out in objectionable manner.The tradition of consuming bhang on holi is particularly rampant in North India where Holi itself is celebrated with a gusto unseen anywhere else. Bhang is made from the leaves of Hemp and is considered to be the least intoxicating of the cannabis preparations in India. But is capable of giving a high for the entire day and is sold openly during Holi festival.

The Bhang usually comes in two varieties – capsule, and dried Bhang leaves. The capsules or golis are added to ice cream, sweets, paan etc. The dried plant or leaves is soaked in water and then it is cleaned and finally grounded on a stone slab to get the paste which is taken along with Badam milk or any sweet preparation.


The sweet and the Bhang are considered to a highly potent combination and is said to give a real high. Therefore many revelers wait for Holi to get intoxicated in public. For fun, many people are also fed bhang mixed drinks and sweets without their knowledge. Sale of Bhang during other days is prohibited in many places except in some temples and places associated with Lord Shiva.

This Holi, even I enoyed to the fullest, consumed Bhang from our own, AITian's Baba shop(not the computer one) in Dighi. First, one hour goes very normal, if you don't know much about it, you will feel like you wasted your money or you would like to go and have one more glass. Next one hour, goes in explaining what are you feeling like. Example, I kept laughing and trying to explain my friends that someone was forcefully pulling my cheeks backwards and was compelling me to laugh. Thirdly, everyone of us knows that Time is Money. So, if you have wasted a lot of your time, I have an alternative, consume Bhang and time will stop for you. A music video will appear as if it was a movie. I think that is more than enough I can explain, my limited vocabulary stops me from explaining other feelings I had on Holi. Then the Indian victory on arch-rival Pakistan in the hockey world cup added to the flavor of Holi. So, there was not one, but two reasons for everyone to celebrate.

But there is something that is needed to be given a thought. Over the centuries and over the decades the festive spirit of Holi has lowly deteriorated; it has been hugely corrupted and misused by people. I greatly feel this has been due to an excessively bad influence of Bollywood movies of the 1960s and the 1970s. The Bachchan era (Don and Sholay) bought in a lot of celebrity status to this festival and corrupted it with open indulgence in consumption of narcotics, alcohol and objectionable sexual opportunism and exhibitionism. Lets get Holi that same importance again what it had years ago and be sober on such auspicious occasions. Its good that one stays away and discourage usage of Bhang or Joints or to that extent alcohol to the fullest extent. I'll for sure!!!


NOTE: I also want to remind that in this festive mood, it is easy for everyone to forget that there is something known as the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in India. Few Indians realize how powerful this act is, with potential for abuse. For example, someone arrested under this act is presumed guilty until proven innocent, which is against normal jurisprudence. Bail can be granted only after a court hearing. Given the Indian judicial system, this can take a few months to many years.