Holi celebrations brought the city together: Lucknow

 As the festival of colours Holi approaches, we can’t help but recall how big this festival used to be some 20-25 years back. From organising pre-Holi parties and kavi sammelans to mushaira nights and hosting Holi milans, the festival of colour would be celebrated with another level of zest in the city. Lucknowites, who held some of the more memorable Holi milans and parties recall how the celebrations would span days before and after Holi, as opposed to now when it’s become a celebration of just a few hours, in our fast-paced lives.

Guests enjoying at one of Dolly Rastogi’s Holi parties

Talk to Gaurav Prakash, a businessman in the city, who has been witnessing the party scene in the city for more than two decades and he recalls how Holi was celebrated with much zeal every year in the 90s. “Holi has always been a favourite festival, full of vibrancy and joy. We used to always go to these amazing Holi parties and come back smeared in black colour,” says he, adding, “I wish we could still be as carefree now as we were 25 years ago. The colours were cleaner and less harmful.”

Holi parties were all about mingling and celebrating the festival together

Gaurav adds, “I remember this one time, when I was in my early 20s, my friends and I decided to have this bhang competition. A few of us went to Chowk and started drinking bhang. One glass, two, three and then another one. It didn’t hit us at that very moment but when it did, oh, the effect lasted more than two days. I was only eating gujhiyas and sleeping. After that I vowed never to have bhang. But those were the good old days when we could be young, wild and carefree.”

Akshay Kumar and Huma Qureshi shot for a Holi song in Jolly LLB 2 in Lucknow

Nitin Mohan, owner of an eating joint in the city recalls how evenings around the festival would be the most awaited ones at his restaurant. “Holi celebrations in the past were really innovative and subtle. At one Holi party at our restaurant, we invited a folk singer and a troupe to perform which was well received by city folk,” shares Nitin, adding, “In fact, when I lived at Buttler Palace, Holi celebrations were really grand. Adults, elderly and kids would have their groups and celebrate the festival together. The Holi Milans would continue for more than two weeks, and fortunately life was not that fast paced as it is now!”

Spirits would be high much before & after the festival in the city

Meenakshi Jain has been hosting Holi parties for more than 20 years in the city. She tells us, “A day prior to Holi (chhoti Holi), my husband, Ajay, and I used to host a party in the evening with friends singing and dancing to Holi songs. And on the day of Holi we used to host a big bash in our house from morning till late afternoon. I used to soak tesu flowers and we would play Holi with that.”

Jimmy Shergill and Mahie Gill in a Holi sequence in Family of Thakurganj

Dolly Rastogi’s, a well-known businesswoman in the city, would also host some of the most happening Holi parties in town. Recalling those days, Dolly says, “It used to be like we would meet the whole of Lucknow during those week-ten days when Holi celebrations began or ended. The party held at our place on Holi used to be an open house and people would come with their friends, some of whom we haven’t even met. Now, Holi is a more intimate affair with just a couple of families getting together,” says Dolly.

Spirits would be high much before & after the festival in the city

Raina Pandey, who runs a cloud kitchen in Lucknow, recalls Holi celebrations when she was in school and says that the cultural element of the festival is now largely missing. “We used to organise mushairas for Holi, and Rang-e-Ghazal, which used to be attended by so many of our friends. In Lucknow itself, Urdu poetry sessions were very popular during Holi and mushairas were popular around Holi. Of course, the common thread between then and now is that there were celebrations over dance and music. We used to serve bhang wali Raja ki Thandai from Chowk, and Lahknawi food like dum biryani, gosht ka saalan, keema samosas etc. Holi is still a big event but with contemporary music and now only very close friends visit,” she says.

BCCL

The festival was in fact a good opportunity for the DJs in the city, recalls DJ Moni. “As a DJ, I used to look forward to the festival of colours as it gave as an opportunity to earn money with the sheer number of pre and post Holi bashes organised in the city. I would invariably be playing somewhere on Holi itself. The party scene some 15-120 years back had just picked up in the city and people used to host several parties around the festival. From pre-Holi to post Holi parties, the festival used to continue for a good number of days. But now the scene has really changed. The festival has become quite private now. The party scene on Holi has somewhat faded away,” he shares.— With inputs from Yashi Agarwal

BACK IN TIME: Glimpses of the Holi milans that were a regular event after the festival in the city

Aditya Roy Kapur and Parineeti Chopra in the typical Holi nok-jhonk in Daawat-E-Ishq

BACK IN TIME: Glimpses of the Holi milans that were a regular event after the festival in the city

Arjun Kapoor got into a Lucknow dude mode in his debut film Ishaqzaade in this Holi song