Multiple Holidays Weekend

As a result of mid-semester break and Good Friday, the Foundation and Language Institute offices and classes were closed Weds-Fri. Janis and I took time to go the Reflections, the new art gallery and studio space. Because I reached a technical impasse in my painting of St. Francis and the Sultan, it became a collaborative piece as Janis finished it at Reflections studio.








Catching up on laundry - this lady works in our building doing cleaning and ironing - she earns every rupee she charges!

Several holidays were celebrated this week and weekend. One that remains a bit mysterious to us is Holi, the Hindu festival that is described in various ways. Perhaps the most fitting explanation is the recognition of the coming of Spring with a celebration of colors. Below is a visual record of some of the festival.
Colored powders being sold in advance of Holi celebrations.


Even the malls were decorating with color for Holi.

In Varnasi they were making preparations for huge bonfires all over the city. This pile of brush on the ghats of the Ganga became a bonfire on Friday night.


Overlooking the park in front of our house, there's a group of young men colorfully splashed. The gray in the trees is the actual appearance - it's accumulated dust on the leaves.

Our building had a Holi celebration. Here, some of the men ask us to "come out and play Holi." We declined, but they let us take their picture. then they asked if they could put some color on us...