Dodging air strike this Holi

Have we gone too far with the phrase “ Bura na mano Holi hai ”?

March 05, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:33 am IST - NEW DELHI:

Festive colours:Artists pose while rehearsing for Vasantotsav on Wednesday.(Right top) Students playing Holi in Delhi and (bottom) water canons on display for salein Sadar Bazar.PHOTOS: AFP and Sushil Kumar Verma

Festive colours:Artists pose while rehearsing for Vasantotsav on Wednesday.(Right top) Students playing Holi in Delhi and (bottom) water canons on display for salein Sadar Bazar.PHOTOS: AFP and Sushil Kumar Verma

The umbrellas that came out due to the unseasonal rain that lashed Delhi over the weekend have stayed out much after the weather has cleared to provide protection of a very different kind. It is not the surprise showers that people are shielding themselves from but surprise attacks by people standing on rooftops and balconies armed with water guns and water balloons.

Children attacking commuters from rooftops during the run-up to Holi is as synonymous with the festival as gulal , gujiya and thandai and commuters have learnt to deal with it in the spirit of the festival. But unfortunately it has gone from being an innocent Holi prank to a major inconvenience when colour is added to the water.

“This time round the rain refrained people in colonies from launching such attacks but as soon as the sun shone through the clouds, out came with it the water grenades that have made me change the route I take from my house to the metro station every morning,” says Alokita, who works at the front desk in a hotel.

Alokita says she has to be dressed formally to work and the other day had to go back home to change as the white shirt she was wearing turned green after a balloon hit her.

Dipali Bannerjee, who has grown up throwing balloons as a kid, says the fun of dodging balloons while walking around the colony is taken away when it is not just children throwing them. “Men in my colony have started using them to harass women. The other day two teenagers on a bike zoomed past my auto-rickshaw and threw a balloon into it. Some even throw them into cars that have the window down. This is not just a nuisance but can also cause accidents. This sort of hooliganism should be checked and repeat offenders must be reported to the police,” opines Dipali.

Bura na mano Holi hai is an oft repeated phrase but we must teach our kids where to draw the line and not waste water,” says Ashish who is also in the residents welfare committee of the condominium he lives in Gurgaon.

“It is different when people throw balloons from the second or third floor but in apartment complexes that have 20-30 floors, the force with which the balloon hits can cause injury and therefore we have asked people not indulge in such pranks and so far people have been listening to us.”

Ram Kumar, a private security guard in Jangpura, says life becomes very tough for him during Holi as unlike commuters he is a sitting target all day for kids in the area. He says he takes it in the spirit of the festival but sometimes it gets annoying as he is constantly targeted. And when he went to complain to the parents of kids, they dismissed him saying it must be children from the other building and not their children.

Ram Kumar, however, shares a story which makes the issue quite serious as he has been witness to a biker losing balance and injuring himself a few years ago because of an unexpected balloon hit.

There are a few petitions that are doing the rounds on the Internet asking for a ban on water balloons and an appeal to people not to force someone to play when they do not want to.

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