KATHMANDU:

Boisterous. Wet. And colourful. That’s Holi for you.

The celebrations started as early as 6:00 am (some might say it started a week ago what with gangs throwing lolas at you at every slim chance they got). Each tole erupted in shrieks and shouts as people started to usher in another colourful day.

Phuchhhaak! Another water-balloon missed its mark.

Splaat! Hey, we got him right on the face. Yeah!

Water scarcity was forgotten as people got into the spirit of the festival and smeared each other with colour (toxic and otherwise) and drenched the inattentive ones from head to toe.

Trippling (on motorbikes) was okay today. “Hey, it’s Holi.”

And children watched their elder ones become kids again as the nation celebrated Holika’s burning symbolic of the triumph of good over evil.

It was also a day of other festivals: for Muslims, it was Eid-e-Milad, which is observed as the birth as well death anniversary of Prophet Mohammad; for Christians, it was Good Friday, the day of Christ’s crucifixion, which were celebrated in a more quiet manner.