Holi - The Festival of Colors !!!!!!

Significance of Holi:

In spite of being such a colourful and gay festival, there are various aspects of Holi which makes it so significant for our lives. Though they might not be so apparent but a closer look and a little thought will reveal the significance of Holi in more ways than meets the eyes. Ranging from socio-cultural, religious to biological there is every reason why we must heartily enjoy the festival and cherish the reasons for its celebrations. 

So when, its time for Holi, please don't hold yourself back and enjoy the festival to the hilt by participating with full enthusiasm in every small tradition related to the festival. 

Mythological Significance:

Holi gets us close to our religion and our mythology as it is essentially the celebration of various legends associated with the festival. Foremost is the legend of Prahlad and Hiranyakshyap. The legend says there once lived a devil and powerful king, Hiranyakshyap who considered himself a god and wanted everybody to worship him. To his great ire, his son, Prahlad began to worship, Lord Vishnu. To get rid of his son, Hiranyakshyap asked his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap, as she had a boon to enter fire unscathed. Legend has it that Prahlad was saved for his extreme devotion for the lord while Holika paid a price for her sinister desire. The tradition of burning Holika or the 'Holika dahan' comes mainly from this legend. 

Holi also celebrates the legend of Radha and Krishna which describes the extreme delight, Krishna took in applying colour on Radha and other gopis. This prank of Krishna later, became a trend and a part of the Holi festivities. Mythology also states that Holi is the celebration of death of Ogress Pootana who tried to kill infant, Krishna by feeding poisonous milk to it.

Another legend of Holi which is extremely popular in Southern India is that of Lord Shiva and Kaamadeva. According to the legend, people in south celebrate the sacrifice of Lord of Passion Kaamadeva who risked his life to revoke Lord Shiva from meditation and save the world.

Also, popular is the legend of Ogress Dhundhi who used to trouble children in the kingdom of Raghu and was ultimately chased away by the pranks of the children on the day of Holi. Showing their belief in the legend, children till date play pranks and hurl abuses at the time of Holika Dahan. 

Cultural Significance:

Celebration of the various legends associated with Holi reassure the people of the power of the truth as the moral of all these legends is the ultimate victory of good over evil. The legend of Hiranyakashyap and Prahlad also points to the fact that extreme devotion to god pays as god always takes his true devotee in his shelter. 

All these legends help the people to follow a good conduct in their lives and believe in the virtue of being truthful. This is extremely important in the modern day society when so many people resort to evil practices for small gains and torture one who is honest. Holi helps the people to believe in the virtue of being truthful and honest and also to fight away the evil.

Besides, holi is celebrated at a time of the year when the fields are in full bloom and people are expecting a good harvest. This gives a people a good reason to rejoice, make merry and submerge themselves in the spirit of Holi.

Social Significance:

Holi helps to bring the society together and strengthen the secular fabric of our country. For, the festival is celebrated by non-Hindus also as everybody like to be a part of such a colouful and joyous festival. 

Also, the tradition of the Holi is that even the enemies turn friends on Holi and forget any feeling of hardship that may be present. Besides, on this day people do not differentiate between the rich and poor and everybody celebrate the festival together with a spirit of bonhomie and brotherhood.

In the evening people visit friends and relatives and exchange gifts, sweets and greetings. This helps in revatalising relationships and strengthening emotional bonds between people.

CONGRATS FOR A SUPERB 200 .... A DOUBLE DHAMAKA !!!!

Sachin Tendulkar smashed a world-record 200 not out as India pounded South Africa by 153 runs in the second one-day international on Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

The veteran opener, the world's first batsman to hammer a double-century in one-day internationals, cracked 25 fours and three sixes in his rapid-fire 147-ball knock for his 46th three-figure score as India posted 3-401 in the day-night match.

The 36-year-old, who holds world marks for most runs and centuries in both Tests and one-day cricket, reached the milestone in the last over when he took a single off paceman Charl Langeveldt.

Tendulkar went for shots early in the innings, racing to his half-century off just 37 balls with nine fours. He took 53 more deliveries to reach his hundred. The master batsman went on the rampage after completing his hundred as he needed just 57 more balls to reach the double-century.

Tendulkar had begun with boundaries on either side of the wicket off Wayne Parnell and then played an array of cuts, pulls and drives.

Memorably, in the first over of the batting PowerPlay, and the 35th overall, Dale Steyn bowled a full, quick delivery outside off stump; Tendulkar simply walked across his stumps and flicked him through a narrow gap at midwicket. Steyn could only watch the ball speed away and shrug his shoulders.

Tendulkar has scored more runs than anyone in history in both one-day internationals and Test matches. He was briefly dropped by India in 2007 but has since regained his position as the subcontinent's most worshipped cricketer.