Wishing everybody a very Happy Holi, may the colours of hope, happiness and prosperity forever shade your life. Holi is celebrated all over India. But like most things about India, Holi also has diverse

traditions, celebrated differently by different people.

In Bengal, we call this day as Dol Purnima. Today, the day is related to Lord Krishna. Devotees offer sweets and abir to Lord Krishna and sing Kirtan.

Apart from this, Bengalis celebrate Basanta Utsab. It was actually started in Shantiniketan. The people living in and around Shantiniketan, join in the festivities, smear abir on each other and sing and dance to Rabindra sangeet. Rabindranath Tagore found profound inspiration in spring and had dedicated scores of poetry and songs. These are played, recited and appreciated.

This practice has now spread over and you can find people celebrating Dol and Basanta Utsab in all nooks and crannies. So it was no surprise, when I woke up to strains of “ও রে গৃহবাসী ” (literally means, O Home dweller! ) as Basanta Utsab had already started way early in the morning. Women donned yellow saris, weaved flowers in their braids and men wore their white Panjabis and Kurtas.