Holi and Bangalore

The fact that I haven’t posted anything about Holi is reflective of how I celebrated. Holi is the festival where you throw color on each other. Two years ago I was in the desert in Jaisalmair and really played – link to that story. This year, the night before (called choti or “little” holi) I went to a friend’s family’s place for a party which included much singing and dancing (not by me) but very little color. It was nice to see how families celebrate. Religiously Holi is a holiday that represents the triumph of good over evil. The story goes that there was a bad woman Holica who was the aunt of a very good little boy. Bad means atheist and good means goes to temple. She grabbed the boy and jumped in the fire to kill him but the fire killed her and the gods saved him. Anyways, instead of “playing” holi on the actual day, I stayed in and thoroughly defeated a friend at scrabble. Wild, I know. :)

Now I’m in Bangalore, the Indian version of Silicon Valley. Although I must admit that I don’t see the visual parallel. I came a day early because I realized that I never see the cities I travel to for business. So I came in on Sunday, spent a day with a friend/colleague at her place, shopping, eating. It was good to get a sense of Bangalore. I’m staying at a beautiful renovated garden house that’s part of the Neemrana network here. Neemrana takes old decaying but beautiful properties and turns them into boutique hotels. This is the third one I’ve stayed at. The first one was Ramgarh Villas up in the lower Himalayas and the second was Neemrana Fort right outside Delhi. It’s quite basic in its amenities but it’s so nice to be in a nice places versus just another hotel! Plus they make these incredible jams that they serve for breakfast!