Today’s post is not a typical food or travel related post. It’s more of reliving some fleeting memories, talking about myself , a little bit of my childhood . I guess these are bits and parts, that makes me.

Usually Dol was the bengalis’ version and Holi was celebrated a day later by the Hindi speaking communities in Bengal. That’s my observation , correct me if I go wrong. My earliest memories of Dol & Holi goes back to my “mamarbari” in Konnagar, where my Dadu (maternal grandfather) was very fond of this festival. The same house was also home for a Hindi speaking tenant “baby mashi” and her parents , who were almost part of the same household for me, so we saw celebration spanning over both the days. Seldom , when we left mamar Bari the internal walls spoke of the fun & merriment. Some where pink hand marks were visible, somewhere a ‘pail of color’ .

Gradually mamarbari scene changed and we started spending ‘dol’ in our howrah residence. Ma used to try finishing all her cooking the previous night or early morning ,as once our ‘sadar darja’ (main door) opened , anyone could pay a visit. Baba used to help us with the aabir (Gulal or dry color) , which we used to put on the elders feet. This was just the start. Then Baba helped us with the balloons , to fill them with colors to throw them. Bhai was so fond of colors that often he would smear colors on himself , than using them on others .He still continues to be passionate about Dol or Holi and I am glad for him . Thankfully , his wife is equally party to his madness now.

My fancy for Dol soon seized. But I used to wait for my Amoni (granny) to first complete her puja and then distribute ‘motth’ & futkorai . She used to ensure all those who put abir on her feet is given both the sweets, mostly in the evening, when they came back. In the night , there were family feast on the terrace. That was a different scene altogether. The day long hide and seek, the games, the fun and grievances came to an end during this feast.

Later I have even seen my family first play ‘dol’ at home and then got into the car to drive to my other Aunts’ houses to meet them and make them part of the same madness. The saga continues till today. These are less wilder days (pic below are two of my aunts and uncles and my brother & sister-in-law ) I am happy seeing the pictures.

Usually there used to be a little shower in the afternoon die to which there were puddles of different colors here and there. I loved seeese that. Yesterday it rained here almost all day long. It was not in torrents but the pittar patter raining. I also saw a few puddles as a result of that rain and that led to so many fleeting memories. I took out a box of ‘aam shatto’ and a cup of tea to write this down.