Womens´ Day and Holi Festival

The women were pretty frenetic today, for “50 Years of Women´s Oppression”, although I´m still not clear if this oppression is from the Chinese, Chinese men (Chinese, Tibetan and Other). I got a few nice photos as they paraded around the temple and down into Lower Dharamsala.

Unfortunately it meant more time on the computer getting my portfolio ready for Lobsang, Editor-In-Chief for Contact Magazine. There are a few excellent one and several good ones, and plenty of average ones, so I hope he is satisfied.

Ed. Adds: You can now view some of my exclusive pics by clicking here.

Yesterday marked the start of the Hindu festival of Holi. This, as Wikepedia pronounces, is “a festival of radiance (Teja) in the universe. During this festival, different waves of radiance traverse the universe, thereby creating various colours that nourish and complement the function of respective elements in the atmosphere.”

It is Harvest festival celebrated differently in different regions and has origins in Vishnu and Shiva myths. Universal celebrations include the throwing of coloured powder, dyes and water and singing along to Bollywood hits. Sounds like a lot of fun n´ést pas?

Wikepedia goes further, claiming that chemically produced industrial dyes have been utilized to take their place in almost entire urban India. In 2001, a fact sheet was published on the chemical dyes used in the festival. They found safety issues with all three forms in which the Holi colours are produced: pastes, dry and water colours.

In investigating the pastes, they found toxic chemicals with potentially severe health impacts. The black pastes were found to contain lead oxide which can result in renal failure. Two colours were found to be carcinogenic: silver, with aluminium bromide, and red, with mercury sulphate. The prussian blue used has been associated with contact dermatitis, while the copper sulphate in the green has been documented to cause eye allergy, puffiness and temporary blindness.

The colourant used in the dry colours was also found to be toxic, with heavy metals causing asthma, skin diseases and temporary blindness.

Lack of control over the quality and content of these colours is a problem, as they are frequently sold by vendors who do not know their origin.

The report galvanized a number of groups into promoting more natural celebrations of Holi. Development Alternatives, Delhi and Kalpavriksh, Pune and The CLEAN India campaign have both launched campaigns to help children learn to make their own colours for Holi from safer, natural ingredients.

Meanwhile, some commercial companies such as the National Botanical Research Institute have begun to market "herbal" dyes, though these are substantially more expensive than the dangerous alternatives. However, it may be noted that many parts of rural India have always resorted to natural colours due to availability reasons.

I´m grateful to LJ who sent me this interesting article on ensuring that Holi goes off with a bhang!