Holi, the bright festival of colours, not only celebrates the victory of good over evil, it also commemorates the eternal love between Radha and Lord Krishna. Then, the festival marks the onset of Spring, the king among all seasons. Unfortunately, it also is that time of the year again when people drench each other in chemical-laced coloured water posing serious health hazards. To top it all, in the last couple of decades, the festival has turned a source of environmental damage too.
However, it is heartening witness that more people are coming forward to combat the adverse effects of Holi pollution and resorting to natural ways of celebration.
Ahead of the festival, SundayPOST sat down with a few social activists who have geared up to observe Holi in an environmentally responsible and sustainable manner.
Herbal Holi in its 13th year
Herbal Holi is a moniker that combines the words Herbal and Holi, in an original way. Swapna Pati, a well-known humanitarian and Hindi film actress, came up with the idea of Herbal Holi. Swapna, a Rourkela native, began doing charity work while studying and living in a hostel. She started campaigns with her friends, and eventually others joined in. With time, Swapna encountered several youngsters and volunteered at a school for the blind. The inspiration of Herbal Holi came to Swapna when she noticed that despite being one of the most revered festivals in India, Holi has been tainted by chemical dyes, resulting in dangerous skin diseases. There is also a risk of side effects from playing Holi with chemical colours. Using readily available ingredients from the market, such as beetroot, spinach, neem leaf, turmeric powder, multani chlorophyll, and sandalwood powder, she began making colours by hand.
In 2010, Swapna began organising Herbal Holi on her rooftop. Many people attended the event and experienced the eye-catching, healthy, and easy-to-clean colours. Since then, Pati has planned a gathering each year to educate people about playing Herbal Holi. She hasn’t stopped since, and the Swapna Pati Foundation has been in operation for 13 years.
“Holi promotes the idea of interconnectedness and merrymaking, but accidents are becoming more frequent, and people are being affected due to the chemicals used in colours. The preparation also involves underage labour. Hence, ‘Herbal Holi’ is the new way, challenging the conventional idea of playing Holi with colours sold in stores”, says Swapna.
She added, “This is the only individual event happening in the entire city of Bhubaneswar, and everybody who has been a part of the celebration is eagerly waiting for Holi this year. Although COVID put numerous restrictions and a pause on the celebration, the preparation is back with so much pomp this year. The number of members has decreased post-Covid, making it difficult to organise, but spirits are high for the Herbal Holi.”
Herbal Holi with Swapna Pati is preparing for huge footfall, and this year actress Amrita Rao and DJ Venus are gracing the event. Swapna Pati Foundation believes in lending a helping hand to make children and women realise the possibility of a better future by promoting education for children and empowering women.
Traditional activity of colour-making
Shweta Agarwal, founder of the Unmukt Foundation, says that they have been conducting hands-on workshops on the making of natural colours for Holi since the inception of the organisation. Elaborating on the process of making colours, she said, “We prepare Holi colours by using corn flour/arrowroot powder as a base, and for pigments we use turmeric, beetroot, the green leaves of spinach or delonix regia, or natural minerals, etc. All of these ingredients combine to produce pastel colours. As the children love vibrant colours, we use food colours. These colours are free from harmful chemicals, rich with the goodness of herbs and natural ingredients, eco-friendly, cost-effective, and water-saving, beating chemical colours in every aspect. It gives us great joy to start celebrating the festival a month before Holi through this unique and traditional activity of colour making.”
She added, “Children actively participate in the colour-making workshops. Initially, we conduct quizzes and keep the workshops interactive to encourage them to use natural Holi colours. Once they are convinced, we provide them with the necessary ingredients to make the colours themselves. Recently, the Principal of SSVM School, Khandagiri, Gagan, shared that our workshops not only help children with Holi but also combine their textbook learning with practical learning, which is in line with National Education Policy 2020.”
The team has been organising workshops for five years and currently teaches more than a thousand children about the process of natural colour-making. Sadashib, one of the children from the foundation, said, “I am making Holi colours at home. I have made beetroot juice, and I am going to do the experiment with different leaves and flowers too.”
Expressing her thoughts on the foundation, Shweta said, “Not only the children but also our volunteers are feeling very satisfied. They are learning something new and sharing it. We owe a special thanks to Sudhanwa Dash, Unmukt volunteer leader, SOA National Institute of Law college volunteers, and their professor, Amruta Das, for volunteering with us and giving us support to reach our goal.”
Big push towards sustainability
Social activist and founder of the Dudnu Foundation, Bandana Harichandan, who has several awards to her credit, started doing what she was always passionate about, which is contributing time and money for different social work, which led to the formation of the NGO. She and the team from the organisation have been hosting a gala event known as Ranga Utsav Samman at her residence on the occasion of Holi for the past four years. They celebrate this festival with fun, dance, singing, and cultural programs. They have taken the initiative to play Holi with organic colours. The small change of substituting herbal colours for chemical dyes is a big push towards sustainability and making the world a better place. The activist does not hesitate to arm herself for social change in a positive direction. She has a soft corner for individuals with physical disabilities who have challenged the narrative of conventional society and become inspirational figures. The foundation also awards those who have achieved recognition in their respective fields with Dudnu Prerna Sanman. Dudnu Foundation also felicitates celebrity figures, social activists, educators, freedom fighters, and families of war martyrs on this occasion.
Explaining the cause, the activist said, “On August 16, 2019, I started the NGO called Dudnu Foundation Trust, in which along with helping people, we also organise cultural festivals and honour people for their contributions. Connecting with children with different abilities is the main purpose of the NGO. My wish is to build a hospital along with an ashram for the children.”
Choosing healthful colours
With a motif of creating positive social change, the Help Hands Foundation took its first step by providing monetary assistance of 500 rupees to the transgenders in Bhubaneswar. They also provided food and shelter to the stray animals. Rudra Narayan, the managing director of Help Hands Foundation, said that their motivation to bring attention to Odia culture was the push that helped them start the organisation two years ago.
The festival, named Phal Rasiya, will be organised March 7 and 8 by the Help Hands Foundation and Glamour 77 at Blue Splash Water Park along Puri-Konark Drive. Explaining the nomenclature of the event, Rudra Narayan Behera said, “Since this is the first year of celebrating Holi, and looking at the concerns of skin health, we will have pools filled with juices, watermelon and orange extracts, milk, and rose petals. Since all of these have a major impact on the skin’s health, we have named the event ‘Phal Rasiya’. There will be fashion shows in traditional and western attire. Authentic food will be a major attraction, as we will have Baripada mutton, chhena poda, rasabali and many more.” Steering away from the traditional chemical dyes and pushing toward this fruit and flower extract alternative is not only innovative but also beneficial for the health.
To attract more people and make this event a success, we have a few celebrity attractions, television actress and BigBoss participant Tejasswi Prakash, Odia film actress Priya Choudhury, Supriya Nayak, Sasmita Panda, and many others will grace the event, concludes Rudra Narayan Behera, MD of Help Hands Foundation.