Holi 2022: Hyderabadis ‘bring the colour back’ to the city

When party-goers and revellers in Hyderabad attended Holi celebrations in the city in March 2020, little did they know that it would be their last festival celebrated publicly for a long time to come. Two years after, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things – but the zest to go full-out to celebrate a festival remains. Organisers and housing societies have gone all out to plan huge gatherings, something that was a big no-no in the #NewNormal.See how the ‘city of pearls’ will celebrate Holi this year.

Any desi at heart will tell you that Holi is pointless without the trademark gulaal and places like Begum Bazaar drew huge crowds ahead of the festival. Faisal Samad, a gulaal distributor from there says, “It seems like the virus has finally shown a little mercy because the last two years were difficult for us. I distribute gulaal to numerous places in the city and this year the demand is high. It is at least 60% higher than it was in 2019 and that’s good for business. Even the small vendors are buying in large quantities to meet the demands.”
The street vendors here also reminisce of the days when people refused to use Chinese-made items since the pandemic began. “Around 850 pichikaaris remained unsold previously because people were angry. But now that the number of cases has lowered, so has the anger. Parents are flocking to the shops with kids to buy pichikaaris and other water toys,” grins Aasif Paasha, a toyshop vendor in Sultan Bazaar.

People might be in the mood to revel again but the caution they learnt during the pandemic is not going to be a thing of the past anytime soon. Seeing as how Covid-19 still exists, organisers made the effort to shift their events to open-air spaces and drive-ins from indoor ones. Akhil Goud, one of the organisers says, “It was sad to see Hyderabad lose the spirit and energy it once had. But this year, we’re back with a bang and have planned to organiser a huge Holi party at Madhapur. As soon as we announced it, tickets were sold like hot cakes. Imagine our surprise when we received enquiries even from couples in their 40s and 50s.”
Water splashes, colours and celebrity DJs wait in store for Hyderabadis at the Holi parties this year. Another organiser, Sumanth A says, “The city loves to party hard, no matter what the occasion. We roped in 2 DJs, live dhol to cheer up Hyderabadis and have a rain dance, water splashes and balloon fights.”

After two years of rigid rules, housing societies in Hyderabad are finally also letting loose. Gandhi Babu, an RWA president tells us, “We kicked off celebrations inside the community with a gathering planned today for Holi. The hope is that the festival of colours and the games we’ve planned will help us move on from the pandemic.” Hyderabadis too are ready to let their hair down, as Pandamaja Inturi, an IT employee from Kondapur adds, “Hectic work schedules have kept me and my husband home the last two years. My four-year-old didn’t even know that such a festival exists as she spent half her life in the pandemic. Dressing her up and watching her play with colours has been a joy.”