Notes from India: a Country Full of Color

Colorful India
The welcome-to-spring celebration known as Holi is celebrated in India in late February or early March. The practice of throwing brightly colored water balloons or squirting people with syringe-like sprayers called pichkaris made me think of how much color there is throughout the entire country of India.

The Reality of Poverty

To those new to the country, there is a period of time to just look and take it all in. The effect of crushing poverty is overwhelming to most American visitors. It takes some getting used to and can pack an emotional punch to those who are uninitiated. Businesses are set up in spaces that seem like garages to us. Homes are often cobbled together with scraps of metal, cardboard and fabric. The poor are everywhere, begging and living their public lives on the streets. It is difficult to absorb and to accept.

Everyday Life

But India is also a country full of vibrant colors and joy. The faces of children light up with smiles. Young people walk to school wearing crisp uniforms and laugh and talk with one another. It is not unusual to see boys walk with their hands on one another's shoulders in a display of friendship, while girls giggle and tell their secrets just as girls do everywhere. Village life is beautiful too as field workers plant or harvest rice, herd their goats and cows, or carry loads on their heads as they go from one place to another.

Strikingly Beautiful Clothing

In the midst of crushing poverty, the women are still breathtakingly beautiful in their saris, salwars and shawls. The tribal women often sew little mirrors or sequins on their clothing and saris are often trimmed with beadwork or embroidery. The brilliant colors are gorgeous. On one shopping trip in Andhra Pradesh I went into a fabric shop where material for the bra-like "blouse" is sold to match the six foot lengths of sari material purchased elsewhere. Every color of the rainbow was available on the shelves and the workers were expert in matching the colors perfectly. It is said that a well-fitting sari blouse makes the outfit.

Colorful Markets

The markets and bazaars are another source of vibrant color. In a land where there often isn't enough to eat, the markets overflow with plenty. The diet of the poor is often only rice and dal (split peas cooked into a sauce) but fruits and vegetables and herbs are on display in every color of the rainbow. Spices are lined up in various shades of yellow, orange and deep browns. Clothing is hung in sparkling row upon row at the entrances to small shops. In contrast to busy streets teeming with pedicabs, cars and motorcycles, the shops are often inviting with their riots of color. In the villages and small towns the markets stand out next to red-brown or yellow-brown roads of dirt and sand.

The Structures

Even the scrambled tangle of buildings built every which-way has its own array of colors as banners, signs, and walls are painted brightly. You will often see new coats of paint being applied to homes and business walls, in bright blues or oranges or greens. India is a country still in the process of elevating the status of its poor, but it is also a country full of life and beauty and brilliant color.