Organic colours take fear out of Holi celebrations

Dharwad: The use of chemical-laced colours often takes much of the fun away from the festival of colours, Holi. For many people, the use of chemicals in colours is among the reasons they refrain from enjoying the festival. However, over the years, rising awareness among the people has resulted in revellers switching to organic colours. In Dharwad, one of those driving this trend is environmentally aware artist Manjunath Hiremath, who has been preparing colours with vegetables, fruit peels and rice flour as ingredients.In addition to these naturally-made colours being less harmful to the environment, they are harmless on the skin, which means that people can celebrate Holi without fear.
Hiremath, a veteran of making eco-friendly Ganesha idols, was approached by his friends to make organic colours in liquid form, which could be used during Holi. “We used beetroot paste for red, spinach and mint leaves for green, coal for black and tamarind powder for yellow, to which we also added a bit of pineapple juice. Rice flour was the common ingredient for all of these, since it acted as a coagulating agent. We prepared enough colour for 50 people in Sampige Nagar, Kelageri Road. Feedback from parents was particularly positive, who were relieved to know their children were playing with safe colours,” he said.
Rajkumar Madiwalar, a Dharwad-based businessman, was among those who played Holi with Hiremath’s organic colours. “It does not itch and is not irritating. There is always the fear of the synthetic colours harming our eyes and mouth. But these colours are harmless, which means it is also children-friendly. It will attract more people in the coming years,” Rajukumar said.
Dundappa said that the colour also washed off easily.
Hiremath said that he started preparing the colours for his neighbours and friends on the eve of Holi. “If we get information about preservatives, we can start preparing it 15 days in advance,” he added.
Hiremath said that he had given a demonstration on making organic colours using vegetables and flour at the JSS Central School. “Most children were thrilled to play with these colours, and parents are even encouraging them to indulge in the revelry,” he said.