TREAT HOLI AS HOLY

WISH EVERY READER A HAPPY & COLORFUL HOLI:-

     Dr.D.R.Nakipuria,Senior GASTRO ENDOSCOPIST HIV SPECIALIST

     & ,Dr.R.nakipuria,Sr.Gynaecologist.SILIGURI

                                                               

       Holi is a festival of social harmony and equality,embraced with coloring every other person of society by own hands ,pranam to elders with touching their feet or welcoming and celebrationg  with  nearones, neighbours, members of society  is a great example of our country’s Unity among Diversity and backbone of our Nationalism.
          But chemical colors are the perils of Holi.As Holi Chemical Colors sold in the market are oxidized metals or industrial dyes mixed with engine oil.For example, Green comes from copper sulphate, purple is chromium iodide, silver is aluminum bromide, black is lead oxide and shiny colors are result of powdered glass being added to the colors. All these are toxic and can result in anything from skin allergies, eye irritation, blindness(Copper Sulphate-Green color),Asthma, Bronchitis (Purple color-chromium  iodide),Gastritis,Gastroenteritis,Hepatitis, Colitis  and damage to our  Kidneys(Lead oxide-Black) and cancer also(Aluminium Bromide- Silver color,Red color Mercury sulphide).When washed, they enter the rivers and the soil and increase pollution leading to damage of many plants,trees and ecofriendly water Annimals.But  Holi can be fun and harmless if we play with environment-friendly natural colors. These are not only cheap but can also be made easily at home.Natural colors or organic colors are made from  different flowers, fruits and vegetables (like black grapes, dried fruits of amla/gooseberry), leaves (eucalyptus), plants (arandi/castor).
         Dry Red is obtained from  Red Sandalwood Powder / Raktachandan / Lalchandan (Pterocarpus santalinus) has a beautiful red color, which is beneficial for the skin and is used for face packs, etc. Dry red hibiscus flowers in the shade and powder it to make a lovely red color. To increase the bulk add any flour to it, in proportion to the vibrancy of the color you want to obtain. Sinduria (Annato) yield both dry and wet colors.Wet red  is prepared by adding  two teaspoons of Red Sandalwood powder in five litres of water and boil. Dilute with 20 litres of water. Peels of Red Pomegranate boiled in water give red.Mix a pinch of lime powder (the one that we eat with our paan / betel leaves) in half a cup of water and add 2 table spoon of haldi (turmeric) powder in it. Mix it thoroughly. Use only after diluting with 10 litres of water.
         Dry Green : mehendi / henna powder (not mixed with amla) separately or mix with equal quantity of any flour to attain a lovely green shade. Dry mehendi will not leave color on your face as it can be easily brushed off. Only mehendi mixed in water might leave a slight color on your face. Many people like smearing other person's hair with colors. How about doing it with mehendi powder and saving a trip to the parlor? Dry and finely powder the leaves of Gulmohur tree for a green. Crush the tender leaves of the Wheat plant to obtain a natural safe green Holi color. Wet Green: Mix two teaspoons of mehendi in one litre of water. Stir well. Green color can also be obtained by mixing a fine paste of leaves like spinach / palak, coriander / dhaniya, mint / pudina, etc. in water.
              Dazzling Yellows; Mix two teaspoons of haldi / turmeric powder with double the quantity of besan (gram flour). Haldi and besan are extremely healthy for our skin, and are also used widely as a ubtan while taking bath. You can use the ordinary haldi or "kasturi" haldi which is very fragrant and has enhanced therapeutic effects. Besan can be substituted by wheat / rice / arrowroot flour or talcum powder. Flowers like Amaltas (Cassia fistula), Marigold / Gainda (Tagetus erecta), and Yellow Chrysanthemums yield different shades of yellow. Dry the petals of these floweres in shade and crush them to obtain a fine powder. Take appropriate quantity of the powder and mix it with besan or use separately. Dry the rind of the Bael fruit (Aegle marmelos) and grind to obtain a yellow colored powder. Wet Yellow: Add one teaspoon of haldi to two litres of water and stir well. This can be boiled to increase the concentration of color and further diluted. Soak 50 marigold flowers in 2 litres of water. Boil and leave overnight.
                Bright Dry Blues : Jacaranda flowers can be dried in the shade and ground to obtain a beautiful blue powder. The flowers bloom in summers. The blue Hibiscus (found in Kerala) can be dried and powdered. Wet: Crush berries of the Indigo tree and add to water for desired color strength. In some Indigo species the leaves when boiled in water yield a rich blue.
                After playing HOLI with Colors,we enjoy with drink in which we take BHANG  as dry paste Tablet/Goli /Ice cream/Kulfi or a cocktail of Water and  milk mixed with dry fruits and copper.Bhang is obtained from Cannablis Plant leaves and dry branches.In mild dose it is aphordiasic and  nervous stimultant and mood elevator but in excessive dose it is CNS irritant and psychosomatic depressor with toxicity to Liver and kidney.Bhang causes  loosing the power to judge individuals and discriminate between the opposites. The person looses all social inhibitions which can lead to indulgence into use of foul language amongst each other ending up into fatal quarrels. Ghanja derived from resin of plant Cannablis and its dry resin crushed produce drug like Hashish.They are very toxic and habit forming so think twice before consuming them  even in HUKA  BAR..Charas is also obtained from this plant Afim or opium powder derived from Datura plant is a kind of drug for addiction ,first it takes away your control from your self so pleasant as curbs all our senses but later neuro depressor and addictor dependant.Once you touch them ,they want to touch you daily and  in more quantity.
           Secondly we take  alcoholic drinks while celebrating Holi as excess use of alcoholic drinks can lead to fatal vehicular accidents and also end up into fatal quarrels.Alcohol acts at the level of intellect and causes its dysfunction. It further leads to loss of power of discrimination and impairment of judgment..The impairment in judgment can also lead to errors during driving leading to fatal accidents. Three to four drinks are sufficient to raise the blood pressure to dangerously high levels in susceptible individuals. In patients who are prone to heart attacks, this dangerous rise in blood pressure can not only precipitate heart attack, but also paralysis and brain hemorrhage.
       Binge drinking (more than 5 pegs at a time) is also associated with irregular heart beats and increased incidence of sudden death. Heart and high blood pressure patients are therefore specifically cautioned not to indulge into heavy drinking. Drinking one peg of alcohol (one ounce) in one hour can still be considered as safe (social drinking) as this amount of alcohol can be totally metabolized by the liver during one hour.Women, in whom this habit is becoming day-by-day a fancy should especially refrain from heavy drinking as they cannot digest alcohol as much as men can. The reason is that the level of particular enzyme called Gastric Alcohol Dehydrogenase that helps in alcohol metabolism is by nature much lower in women than men.
           Consuming six tablets of paracetamol with alcohol, which is a common practice to reduce the   hang over specifically by women, can produce fatal liver damage, and hence the habit of taking these pills should be condemned. Taking aspirin, also, to reduce the hang over can produce fatal hemorrhage in the stomach and hence should be avoided.
       The festival of Holi is to share happiness with each other while forgetting all the differences and should never be allowed to end up into a sad episode of morbidity for some one or quarell with any body rather more cohesiveness / unity  in society irrespective of caste,creed and color.