INDIAN HOLI AND MARSHALL MERMAIDS
Half way around the world in India on a spring full moon day, in this case at Varanasi at Assi Ghat, March 12, 2012, people are having the same wild time celebrating Holi that the Mermaids had Sunday in Marshall. There are all kinds of mythological stories connected with Holi but in all of them the day celebrates the triumph of good over evil, the bursting out of life in spring after the darkness of winter.
Weeks before Holi the bazaars are full of shops selling heaped up cones of colored powder to be mixed with water and sprayed on people and also during these weeks pyramids of wood and branches are piled up in public squares. On the night before Holi these are lit, making huge bonfires all over the city. Holi is a great equalizer and on Holi everyone is sprayed with colored water or smeared with colored paste regardless of their rank or importance. It is a time of gaiety, sometimes said to be a festival of love. But whatever the motivation it is a time to let go and spray everyone you see with colored water. In many ways Holi and the Mermaid Parade in Marshall have the same purpose, for a day to break out of conventions and make a fool of yourself and everyone else.
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 