Holi, the Indian festival of colours is meant to celebrate the arrival of Spring while the colors used in Holi are to reflect the various shades of spring season.
This year Holi is being celebrated with the deadly corona virus as the backdrop. Playing with water, interacting with a large crowd and touching several people –all have the potential to infect you with the viral disease.
Therefore, it’s mandatory to take all precautions and follow these tips:
• Instead of using chemical colours for Holi, go green.
• You can choose to prepare eco-friendly colours at home, other than buying unreliable material from the market.
• Homemade raw materials like turmeric, sandalwood and henna can be used to make vibrant skin-friendly colours.
• Flowers are another viable form of preparing colours.
• Scrubs can be prepared through a mix of gram flour, turmeric, curd and rosewater.
All would agree that Holi without colors would be damp squid. Although eco-friendly chemical free colors are available in the market but their reliability is unconvincing at best. Also they are quite pricey when compared to the common Holi colors. So, the best option is definitely to make your natural, herbal and safe Holi colors at home. The most popular color of Holi, Gulal can be made by mixing 100 grams of turmeric power with 200 grams of arrowroot powder along with 50 grams of marigold flowers and 20 grams of powdered orange peel. Add to the mixture 20 grams of lemon or sandalwood essential oil and rub the mixture gently together to get a bowl full of safe and natural yellow colored gulal. To make colored water soak 100 grams of Tesu flowers in a bucket full of water overnight. In the morning you will find the water to be of natural saffron color. One may also use henna leaves instead of Tesu flowers to get colored water. To make dry powdered colors mix appropriate amount of food colors with rice flour and water to make a colored paste and then let the paste dry; finally use a grinder to grind and get the powdered color powder. One may also get natural pink or saffron colored dry powder, mix grinded beetroot or turmeric with besan and add water to make a paste. Let the paste dry under the sun and powder the same in the grinder to get natural and safe colors for your Holi celebrations.
• If you are facing any weakness or signs of cold, refrain from playing Holi.
• Don’t let anyone harass you in the name of celebration.
• Do not let the water and colours sit on the body. Wash immediately after playing.
• Before going out, apply generous amounts of oil to your hair, so that the colour doesn’t stick to the scalp. Give your head a massage for the oil to get absorbed.
• Tie your hair. Making a top bun or braid will ensure not all parts of the hair gets the colour treatment.
• You can also wear a scarf or a bandana.
• Do not let the colour or coloured water sit on the scalp for long. Clean it while the hair is wet.
• Instead of a huge amount of chemical shampoos, use homemade remedies such as wheat flour powder and lemon to clean the hair.
• Like the hair, apply oil to your face and every exposed part of the body.
• Applying sunscreen is a must.
• Cut your nails short and apply a coat of polish to protect your nails from catching on the colour.
• Wear a pair of sunglasses to protect your eyes and the skin around eyes.
• Insert a piece of cotton to prevent the colours from going deep inside the ears.
• Don’t be harsh on the skin while removing colours.
• Use lukewarm water to wash the face, followed by a mixture of sea salt, glycerine and a few drops of aroma oil.
• Before heading out, drink plenty of water. There is a massive chance of getting dehydrated.
• Try to make sure no one in the group coming together to play Holi is showing signs of a cough, fever or cold.
• Playing with cold water will increase the chances of getting infected with seasonal flu, so go dry or use lukewarm water to play Holi.
• Wash your hands when you have food. Holi colours are powders that can get easily be transmitted to food items. Keep all the food items away from the playing area.
• A way of saving water is using pichkari instead of buckets of coloured water.