The Epic Jaipur, India Tour- Holi 2018

Holi is a Hindu festival that marks the start of Spring. It also celebrates the triumph of good versus evil and originated because of a love story about Krishna and his lover Radha.

It was believed that Krishna, the Hindu God, depicted with dark blue skin, complained to his mother about Radha’s fair complexion. To ease her son’s sadness, his mother suggested he color Radha’s skin by smearing her with paint. So this is where the custom of smearing loved ones with color during Holi came from.

I had the privilege of being a guest of the King of Jaipur, to celebrate Holi at the City Palace. The event was all set for about 200 guests to come and throw colored powder and douse each other in water in honor of the playful tradition.

BHANG

The alcohol was free-flowing all day and they even served Bhang. What is Bhang you might ask? Prior to coming to India, I heard of this unusual drink that’s commonly used during the Holi festival which makes you “high.” It’s made of cannabis leaves and flowers, milk, spices, and sometimes yoghurt. I did my research and definitely wanted to see what it was all about. I read an article that said Bhang can make you lose control of your body so it is very important to be very careful who you surround yourself with when under the influence. I was with good friends and knew that I was in a safe place so of course I decided to give it a go. I was very cautious with my first cup because I had no idea how my body would react to it. About 30 minutes after downing my first cup of Bhang, I began to get a head change. I felt woozy as if I had just smoked marijuana but at the same time I felt like I had a surge of energy as well. As you can maybe tell, I’m quite the adventurous one when it comes to trying new things. I’ve never made any recreational drugs a habit, and they have never become an addiction, but I do believe in at least experimenting with certain things at least once. Good thing they had a stage set up with a DJ playing awesome jams because all I wanted to do was dance! I don’t know if it was the alcohol I had or because of the Bhang, or a combination of both, but I had the time of my life as I danced the day away! I danced as if nobody was watching!

My friends wanted to have more Bhang so some of us shared a second cup. The event was filled with loving smiles, laughs, and just good vibes all around.

I really enjoyed the effects of this new drink I had discovered. I got “bhanged” as we all called it. Haha! We all had such a AWESOME time!

About 4 hours goes by, and after all the dancing and prancing around, I began to feel very heavy. I couldn’t even stand or sit up so luckily there were beautiful tents set up where people could hang out on pillows, have conversations, and just relax. This was probably one of the side effects of the bhang where all I wanted to do was “floor” it (lay down). Even with the side effects of not being able to move, would I do it again? Heck yea, that was so fun!

Upon walking out of the event, I met these two sisters as we broke out in a random song. I’ve been so fortunate to have met such awesome people from around the world in India at the Holi events.

What an awesome celebration Holi was! I’d definitely do that all over again especially celebrating it with this amazing group of people! #squadgoals

Until we meet again Holi!!!