Holi fever grips the ‘young at heart’

Guwahati

March 11 : The city got into Holi mode a day ahead of the festival with the “young at heart” spraying colours and dancing to traditional Holi songs. The festival of colours is slated for tomorrow, but the younger generation couldn’t resist the temptation to begin the revelry today. Most areas in the city, including Fancy Bazar, Pandu, Kumarpara and Noonmati, saw people smearing colours on one another. “Holi is a festival of young hearts. It embodies liveliness and exuberance of the season. I love Holi and wait the entire year to celebrate the festival. My family started the celebration this morning. Tomorrow our celebration will reach its climax and I am eagerly waiting for the Holi rain dance,” Sunil Jain, a businessman and resident of Fancy Bazar, said. The popular and annual Dol Utsav at Dol Govinda Mandir in North Guwahati also got under way this morning. A large number of people visited the temple and prayed for peace and prosperity. The inland water transport department has arranged a special ferry service from Kacharighat to the temple on the other side of the Brahmaputra. The festival will also be celebrated at the Ganesh Mandir in Ganeshguri, Shiva temple in Ulubari and Gita Mandir on the Zoo-Narengi Road tomorrow. “We will try to bring back the real essence of Holi in a traditional way as celebrated in Brindavan. A colourful procession will be taken out from our temple premises tomorrow,” an office-bearer of the Ganesh Mandir temple committee said. Arrangements for Holi celebrations have also been made at the 16th International Guwahati Trade Fair, which is under way at the Assam Engineering Institute ground in Chandmari, where participants from foreign countries will play colours tomorrow. There were pre-Holi celebrations at the fair ground, too, with visitors and foreign participants relishing specially made colourful kulfis at Purani Dilli Ka Khana, a food joint from Old Delhi. Security arrangements have been tightened in the Kamrup (metro) district to prevent any untoward incident during the festival. A police official said miscreants might try to take advantage of the festival and carry out subversive activities.