Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Happy Holi: Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Getting groped, grabbed, and dyed at Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

India is already proving to be one of those places I have a love/hate relationship with. The highs are pretty high, already some of the most amazing moments I’ve had on this trip, but the lows are intense and breaking. And my mood and feelings can switch instantaneously.

One minute I’m laughing as we teach Jaime how to use a squat toilet in our hotel room. The next I’m frantically throwing all my things onto the bed when the shower overflows and leaks into the room and all over my bags.

 

Teaching Jaime to use the squat toilet in Mathura, India.

 

One minute I’m being introduced to the Indian Holi festival with friendly locals painting my face, inviting us in to a game of cricket, dancing with us as they set up, taking more photos of their Western visitors then I am of them. Then the next I’m at the train station, dodging women who don’t believe in the concept of a line, and being told “no” without any explanation to my request to buy a ticket before being shoved out of the way.

 

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

 

One minute I’m enjoying a festival, having fun, being part of something. I’m getting my face colored and coloring the faces of others, smiling, laughing. Another minute men are groping at me, grabbing my boobs and my ass, forcibly taking hold of my face with a thick black muck, being aggressive, hostile.


 

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

 

One minute an Indian is protecting us, feeding us, helping us out with where to go and what to say. And the next he is trying to tell us what to do in a way that we’re not completely comfortable with. Or following us on to the next town. Or telling us we are bad people after we didn’t understand his request for us to wait for him.

 

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

 

Holi was hard. Much in the way that La Tomatina was both amazing and miserable this too was both beautiful and trying. But on a much different level. A much different level.

When things were good it was good. Beautiful. Amazing. Festive. And certainly colorful. It was an amazing experience, walking down the street, getting covered from head to toe in colored powders, meeting friendly people who wanted us to have a good time.

But local men don’t always respect foreigners, especially women. So it was a taxing day of trying to dodge men who were trying to grope me and grab me. We found a safe haven where a group of guards protected a group of travelers, but as soon as I stepped away it was scary, a bit dangerous at times.

In the end, I’m not sure if Holi is something I would take part in again. I wanted to love it and, at times, I truly did. But at the same time I spent the whole day a bit fearful, a bit violated. And that’s kind of how I’m feeling about India in general right now.

 

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Holi Color Festival in Mathura, India.

Hi, I'm Val. I spent most of my 20s in a standstill, unable to pick which path in life I wanted to take. I wanted the nomadic life of a traveler but also wanted the husband, the condo, and the kitten. Unable to decide which life I wanted more, I did nothing. When I turned 30 I’d had enough of putting my life on hold and decided to start “choosing my figs.” So, I quit my job, bought a one-way ticket to Europe, and traveled for three years. Now I'm back in Chicago, decorating my apartment in all the teal, petting my cats, and planning my next adventure.

Follow:
13 Comments
  • Waegook Tom
    March 11, 2012at5:26 am

    Loving the photos. Hope you didn’t get stained & that it’s come out now haha!

  • Adam
    March 11, 2012at8:17 am

    Yeah, India can be intense… I remember my first few weeks there I felt the same with a love/hate relationship. But after a while, I completely fell in love with the country.

    Holi looks beautiful. Great shots!

  • Chris
    March 11, 2012at10:47 pm

    Stumbled across your site and love it! Looks like the RTW is going fabulously so far. Safe travels and good luck on your 1,000

  • Ali
    March 12, 2012at9:36 am

    I love the picture of you and Jaime all covered in dye. Sorry this turned out to be such a stressful festival. I’ve always heard India is wonderful but really tough. I hope things are getting better for you.

  • Anji
    March 12, 2012at9:53 am

    Your pictures are amazing! Being an indian myself, I have never celebrated Holi in India! Isn’t that crazy! There are advantages to living abroad but missing out on festivals like Holi or Diwali makes it so hard to live away from India!!
    Your pictures show what an incredible experience you lived 🙂

  • Bharti
    March 20, 2012at2:44 pm

    Hi, you have a great blog here! Loved the holi post. Yes, holi has its ups and downs. Me and my dad stayed at home and avoid holi. The colors can be hard to remove. But I remember I used to look forward to holi but now I like to avoid it lol.

    xo,
    B.

  • Kieu ~ GQ trippin
    April 4, 2012at7:45 am

    First off, love the Indian squat toilet photo! LOL.. Secondly, wish we would’ve been able to enjoy it like the boys. No one’s walking around grabbing their boobs, right? Hope it wasn’t all too terrible for you. We had a slightly controlled Holi in Jaisalmer but I’m still traumatized.

  • vishnu baburaj
    July 28, 2014at1:23 pm

    Hey….Just got through your experience from here,India.Men are bit conservative here.They never like women to be out there free..Not every Indian men!…Saying sorry for what they did to you….

Post a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.