This Holi let our colours be dry, not our lakes

For many of us, Holi symobolises a tub full of coloured water guns and balloons filled with water and multifarious colours. With the state reeling under one of its worst draughts ever, students and housing societies have picked up the baton to do their bit to save water. A waterless Holi will be the highlight for responsible citizens this festive season. Youngsters from Xaviers Institute of Communication, set out on a mission to urge the people to play a waterless Holi. Carrying placard and banners, about 25 students spearheaded the campaign called ‘Ctrl+S Water’. Shedding light on the initiative is Ronak Shah, the orgainser of the campaign. “People across the globe will be celebrating, World Water day on March 22, so we thought this would be the best time for us to do our bit for the society. We heard the CM’s speech and realised that while we would be wasting away tonnes of water, our farmers are suffering due to droughts.”

Strutting the streets wearing ‘Conserve Water’ t-shirts, these youngsters urged people to the #DryHoliPledge. “We encouraged people to wear stickers and dip the palms in dry gulal and put an impression on a white cloth. They also signed various banners which displayed messages like ‘Holi should be dry, not our lakes’,” she says.

While youngsters are doing their bit, housing societies stalked by serious scarcity of water are not lagging far behind. Borivali’s Country Park has over 450 flats, with about 1,500 members. Holi for them until last year was all about rain dances and pool parties. This year however, the residents have pledged to go completely dry reveals secretary Karan Menon. “We used to call for about four tankers of water each year for our Rain Dance, but this year we will use that money to provide lunch for all the residents and play only with colours.” Malad’s Akshardham Housing Society’s cultural head Shilpa Shirodkar coaxed children to stop playing with water balloons. “We realised that it was crucial for children to understand the importance of water at a young age. We circulated images of draught affected areas of Vidharbha on our society’s WhatsApp groups and urged parents to educate their children. We will organise a dry Holi and games and painting events for the kids,” Shilpa says.

With No Water: This Holi sirf Rang Barse