The streets this Holi wore a deserted look. The ongoing examinations, financial year-ending and the scorching sun played spoilsport as most city residents were back indoors by 11 a.m. The little ‘gulal’ and ‘hara’ colours left behind by the revellers were the only testimony to the festivities.
Children ganging up and painting the locality with colours is a common sight during Holi, but this year the school board examinations dampened celebrations, said G. Venkatesh, a resident of Sikh Village. Last year, the festival fell in the first week of March, enabling most children to actively involve themselves, he observed. G. Harshawardhan, who is appearing for his Class 10 examinations, was sad about missing out on the fun.
“Last year we played up to 12 noon. This year, it was just a half-an-hour affair,” he lamented. Because of his examination, both his younger siblings were restrained from playing Holi as they would otherwise ‘distract’ their brother.
A similar story
Apart from the schoolchildren, marketing professionals in the city were also hard-pressed for time to play Holi with the financial year-ending drawing nearer.
“The last three weeks of March are crucial for us because of the annual targets. With targets occupying our attention, we cannot lose out on a productive day. That’s why we could not celebrate Holi with the same fervour this year,” Manish Kumar, a marketing executive in a telecom company, said.
Good Friday exodus
With Good Friday following Holi, many employees in the city have taken leave for Thursday and left for their hometowns. “Most of my colleagues have gone to their native places,” software engineer G. Aparna said. However, that did not deter her from indulging herself.
“We did play the festival with gulal. It would be a shame to go to office without gulal clinging to our hands tomorrow,” she admitted.
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