Make Natural Holi Colours with Einstein Iyengar
The school was abuzz with the coming Holi holidays. The children were extremely excited to celebrate the festival of colors, much to the dismay of the environmental science teacher of Eeshan. During class he said “Holi is a wonderful festival that brings people of different race, color and kind, together. But over the years the use of harmful colors and wastage of water has made Holi a threat to the environment and people.”
“But Sir, are you saying we shouldn’t celebrate the festival at all?, asked Eeshan
“No Martin. But there is an alternative. We can use less of water during celebrations and natural colors. Colors that are made of natural things and do not harm our skin. They can also be taken off easily.” Said the professor.
Martin said “What is Holi without the water balloons and the strong colors Sir? We aren’t old, we are young and energetic!” the class cheered when Martin spoke.
The teacher continued “Do you know traditionally Holi was celebrated with colors that were good for the skin and had medicinal value as well. It celebrates the advent of spring and the trees that blossom and give the plants that helped in making the colors. I agree it is a festival which is meant for fun, but why can’t we have fun with colors that are naturally made? The synthetic colors are not just harmful to our skin, but also have a harmful effect on water resources, soil fertility and millions of animals and microorganisms. Would you want to harm all these things just for a few hours of fun Martin?”
Martin was speechless. Eeshan spoke, “Sir, What if we celebrate Holi in the school premises? We can have an activity of making as many colors naturally as possible and also get to play! I am sure the principal will encourage us to celebrate the festival in a natural way.”
“That’s a great idea Eeshan! Let me talk to the principal.” Said the teacher positively.
When the children found out that the principal had given the permission to celebrate Holi in the school premises, right before the holiday, they were overjoyed. The teacher asked “So how are we going to make the colors children?”
Martin spoke first, “We can use turmeric powder as yellow color! It smells nice and is great for the skin!”
“That’s great Martin!” acknowledged the teacher
Eeshan spoke next, “We can use dry hibiscus flowers and powder them. They will give a lovely red color. They are used in many shampoos as an ingredient for making hair softer. So we can use it to color everyone’s hair as well.”
The children were excited at the prospect of playing Holi as wildly as they did, but with colors that would not have a bad aftermath.
Many colors were made on the day of Holi and displayed on plates on a huge table. The colorful display made school a vibrant place that day with the principal also joining in to play with the students. Mehendi was used to make the color green, the Jacaranda flowers were dried and crushed to give a lovely blue color, the vegetable Beat Root was sliced and grated to give a lovely magenta and all the colors were mixed with water to make them wet. Kattha, used in the Pan was mixed in water to give a brown color and Amla was boiled and dried to give the color black.
The children had more fun playing with their teachers and the principal, more so because they didn’t have to rub generous amounts of oil before playing Holi this year. The oil, their mothers said, would help in removing the hard synthetic colors of Holi, when they took a bath. This Holi, was naturally fun!
More facts about Holi festival
- The Story of Holi
- Celebrating an Eco Friendly Holi
For more environment related articles and videos, visit: Environment for Kids category.