The Other Side Of Unholy Holi.

Yes it is... Where 6-7 locals molested 1 female foreigner and when her friend asked them to stop they started fighting with him... Yes it is a place of God... Where 1 priest standing inside bankey bihari temple asks for money to use camera and when you say you are also from here not from outside so he replies "Apne Jhaan* ka baal ukhadke dikha tab maanu yahan ka hai, bada aaya yahan ka hoon".

Yes it is a nagri of bhagvan (Holy city) where locals show LATH in dick shape to group of girls sitting on 1st floor and say something in brijvasi language and would also start chanting Chut chut chut chut.... (Vulgar words)

While coming back in auto, a guy sitting next to me said 'kitni gandgi hai yahan sadko pe...Modi aae to saaf ho'... ( How dirty the roads are, it will be clean when modi comes next). Apparently they can see dirt on road but not the inner dirt they are acquiring over these past few years...

These incidents remind me two lines by Krishna in Mahabharat to Duryodhan...

"जीस तरहा मंदिर में किया गया पाप पुण्य नहीं बन जाता, उसी प्रकार धर्म विरो की उपस्तीठी में किया गया अधर्म धर्म नहीं बंजाता."

"नारी नारायानी होती हैं और भरी सभा में नारी का अपमान/वस्त्रहरण अधर्म हैं."

I'm happy I don't live or was born in this Holy city if Shudh ( pure) people think and behave like this... It reminds me of one line by Krishna to karan in Mahabharata - "In the name of Dharma you stood quite and was just seeing draupadi's chirharan, you are equally a part of the crime." Even a person who is a mere spectator of what's happening in front of you is also at fault. So stand up.

Molestation is not just physical... Its mentally too... When you are standing in front of girls and boys start chanting chut chut (Vagina) at that time, that time also a girl would feel molested..

I was telling my friend "Krishna what have you done buddy... Your Raaslila (play) has become so dirty these days and people are teasing and touching females in the name of you."

Then i experienced something which can't be expressed in words... With my friends we went to shoot old age and widows holi in Gopinath temple which is quite famous now.. The whole environment was so good and with positive aura...Now i could relate how actually KANS nagri (todays nandgaon and barsana) would look like and how krishna's place (Gopinath temple) would...In 1 place you can see humans doing batadmeeji (eve-teasing) with females and people in the name of god believing what they are doing is exactly what krishna used to do with his gopiyas (female friends). On the other hand, there are beautiful, old ladies who don't even know you but still would talk to you and play with you like their own sons and grandsons...

There I met "Dida" that's what people call old ladies there... I was just sitting in front of her and was waiting for the main priest to come and start Phoolwali holi... She was looking at me continuously, some kind of spark in her eyes...Then she said something to her old friend sitting next to her in bengali as I could see her pointing her glance towards me... I didn't understand anything but I got an idea that they were talking about me.

Suddenly another priest came and asked all of us to get up and stand on side because a big priest was about to enter. Luckily Dida and I were standing again next to each other...She was still looking at me with those sparkling eyes, but this time I smiled and then the conversation started. She told me that I remind her of his grandson. He looked just like me and his health, face and hairstyle also. His name is Sujoy Majumder.

I took one selfie with her and hugged her wishing her Happy holi.

After seeing the unholy Holi, I went to experience the gulaal and phoolwali (flower) holi. Everything became colorful from red, yellow, green, gulaal and from different flower petals.

All old and widow ladies started chanting Radhe Krishna and were dancing happily. Playing holi with everyone. It felt so good to see all those ladies playing freely. Even though they are widows, they have a right to play and enjoy colorful holi just like any of us, and that's what I felt there. I also saw some ladies crying and remembering their loved ones. While some were crying seeing many unknown people playing holi, clicking them and dancing with them.

"The widow community started celebrating the 'festival of colours' in March, 2013 and since then it has been an overwhelming journey of transformation. The age-old repressive practice of alienating the widows and disallowing them from leading normal lives has almost culminated with the opening up of this festival for them. Along with this, it has levelled fields for the widowers as well as the widows, ensuring gender equality on a large scale and further strengthening the cultural landscape of the country." - Ravi Mishra

For the first time I experienced something like this and I will definitely visit this place next year with my female friends.

Note: Local people on streets of Krishna's birth place Vrindavan were very nice.

This post was originally published on Life Stop Shoots.