Bibhuti Pati
On each Holi, I recall Prof. M Q Khan the then vice chancellor of BhanjaViharUniversity of Bramhapurand one of all time profoundly English literary expert of India, I reviewed his expressions of ‘Jashn-e-cheest-farakh-dili’ (Festivity is benevolence) So evident.
There was never a religious hue to holi. All Sufis celebrated Holi and called it jashn-e-faam (faam is a Persian word for colour/s). They never associated it with the Hindus. Once Jalaluddin Rumi’s disciple Halimul-A’afiz called Holi ‘ahnaaf-e-butparastaan’ (a festival of idol-worshippers). Rumi was disappointed in Halim that rued in Pahalavi, ‘Kee’nanjashnmeez al-butaan/Na’zif inn un-shifaan’ (Oh, you unenlightened soul, how can you associate an innocuous festival with idolaters?). Rumi went on to say that the favourite festivals of angels were Shab-e-charaghaan (night of lamps) and Jashn-e-faam (festival of colours).
The sixteen century’s great Urfi of Shiraz, who was a Persian poet in Akbar’s court, would go out with colours and play with all and sundry on the streets of Delhi. He successfully urged Akbar and his Muslim courtiers to participate in the festival of colours. Akbar loved to play Holi and he played it with commoners! Even a forever ashen-faced Aurangzeb didn’t stop the people of Delhi and Deccan from playing Holi as he considered the festival of colours to be ‘emblematic of bonhomie!
Now when the people and their festivals are divided on the lines of creeds and screeds, the magnanimous spirit of not just Holi, but all festivals can serve as balm to the festering wounds of bigotry and rabid intolerance that have engulfed us. Remember the words of Urdu poet QateelShifai, ‘Mazhabnahinhota koi rang aurroshnika/ Sarhadeinroknahinsakteenrangonkobikharne se’There’s no religion of colours and light/ The boundaries cannot prevent colours from spreading and suffusing in all directions.
Holi is generally an essential and unforgettable celebration. The drives of our companions addshimmering tints to their lives. Furthermore, the feelings of internal delight always especially awesome, which not a single one of us might have encountered, even in a chic retreat.
