'Like Ramzan and Id, I've always longed for Holi'

Get Ahead reader Shaik Shahi Hussain from Hyderabad gets nostalgic with his holi memories in response to our reader invite (below).

He thanks the Almighty for giving him a wonderful family and friends.

My brothers and some of my school friends did not like playing holi as they did not like going to school with their faces turned red. But I always felt pride in going to school like that. It gave me the feeling that even though I am a Muslim, I love to celebrate Holi.

This festival of colours has always fascinated me. It gave me feeling that life without colours is very boring.

Though white is my favourite colour, I would wear white shirt on holi to ensure I have maximum shades visible on my shirt when I return by evening.

I waited desperately that some of my friend would come home and callout my name. The moment it happened my mom would say "Wear old clothes and try to come soon" and a clear warning "Do not play with grease paints and water chemicals".

Reader invite

Tell us about the most memorable Holi you celebrated! Share with us the moments you spent with your loved ones and we will publish the most interesting responses right here on Rediff.com.

Send us pictures of your holi celebrations or upload your videos on Rediff iShare along with a short description of who you are and what you did this year.

Send us an email to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject: 'What I did this Holi') and we will publish the most interesting responses right here on Rediff.com.

The excitement building inside me would burst out and I would pounce on my friends with Gulaal first and then the other colours. My close friends Ramakrishna, Pavan, Santosh, Rajshekhar would cover my face with different colours and I would wave goodbye to my brothers and my mother and she would laugh out loudly saying "Dil khush hogaya tera? Sambhal ke khelna beta holi" (You must be feeling happy now but be careful while playing holi).

Most of the day would be spent visiting friends and friends of friends on our two wheelers with three people riding on it. We knew even the police wouldn't mind it on holi. Applying gulaal and breaking eggs on their head was something we enjoyed a lot. And then we would all laugh out looking at our faces coloured red, green, blue, yellow, purple and what not.

The friendship bonded over such festivals has always lasted longer. We ended by having more trustworthy friends. We used silver colour and grease paint once but we avoided it after we learnt the harm they could cause.

But, close to my heart is this one holi when I hadn't played holi with my friends for three years. All of us had found jobs and been busy with our careers. As holi neared I was sad that even this time I might have to forget it, mostly because we were grown up now and everyone started regarding holi as waste of time and also because people felt embaressed going to offices with their red faces looking like apes.

Reader invite

Tell us about the most memorable Holi you celebrated! Share with us the moments you spent with your loved ones and we will publish the most interesting responses right here on Rediff.com.

Send us pictures of your holi celebrations or upload your videos on Rediff iShare along with a short description of who you are and what you did this year.

Send us an email to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject: 'What I did this Holi') and we will publish the most interesting responses right here on Rediff.com.

But my heart always wanted to feel like a kid at least on this day and I felt nothing wrong in looking like our ancestors for a day anyway!

I was sitting silently watching TV when my frind Ramakrishna called out my name. I went out and was so happy to see him completely daubed with multiple colours. He hugged me, wished happy holi and applied gulaal to my face and head and some sweets.

My heart filled with gratitude to the Almighty that he listened to my prayers. I couldn't hold on to my emotions and hugged him tightly.

I was thinking it was just two of us playing holi this time but I was so wrong.

All my dear friends were hiding behind my house and trees around and caught me off guard. My parents were standing near the gate of our house and I could see how happy they were to see me enjoy my favourite festival once again.

Few friends walked upto my father and brothers and applied gulaal and wished them "happy holi".

We played with colours till the evening and went to Pavan's farmhouse and bathed for hours together. We could see the water of different colors running down the lanes made for the bore water.

Now that we are married and living different cities we make all our efforts to meet for holi and have a blast. I am thankful to the Almighty for giving me such friends and lovely parents and wife who have never stopped me from playing holi.

Reader invite

Tell us about the most memorable Holi you celebrated! Share with us the moments you spent with your loved ones and we will publish the most interesting responses right here on Rediff.com.

Send us pictures of your holi celebrations or upload your videos on Rediff iShare along with a short description of who you are and what you did this year.

Send us an email to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject: 'What I did this Holi') and we will publish the most interesting responses right here on Rediff.com.