Spring is officially here and to acknowledge it, hundreds of millions of people across India and the world are celebrating the Hindu festival of Holi, today. Holi is well-known for its bright colours to coincide with the beautiful colours of spring and the ending of winter. However, there are many traditions and meanings associated with this wonderful festival. Some of these might just help your writing. Read on to find out how the Holi festival can inspire your writing:
1. Prahalad and Holika
The legend of Prahalad and Holika is a major story associated with Holi. Holika was the demon sister of Hiranyakashipu, a demon king. Hiranyakashipu was arrogant and considered himself to be higher than the Gods. Prahalad was a devotee to Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu made many attempts to punish Prahlad, including trying to murder him, so that he would denounce his devotion to Lord Vishnu. All attempts were in vain.
Hiranyakashipu then requested his sister Holika to kill his son. Holika was immune to fire due to her demonic powers, and made Prahlad sit on his lap while she sat in the middle of a fire. Holika’s cunning plan was to burn Prahlad to death, while she would survive because of her immunity to fire. However, her plan failed because she was using her powers to carry out evil. While on the fire, Prahlad continued to pray to Lord Visnhu and he emerged unscathed. Holika, on the other hand was burnt to ashes.
Writing Tip: This story represents the victory of good over evil and could form a great plot for your next story, or perhaps act as a sub-plot. If you’re writing a non-fiction book, then you might want to explain the power that faith can have in helping one overcome adversities.
2. A Fun Festival and Lord Krishna
Holi is a fun festival full of dancing, singing, and traditionally people throw watered colours over each other. The colours aspect of the festival is associated with Lord Krishna and his beloved Radha. It is believed that Lord Krishna used to be jealous of Radha’s fair complexion, as he was dark. He then explained his problem, to his mother Yashoda. His mother teased Krishna, asking him to put colours of Radha’s face, so that she would look more like Him.
Writing Tip: How about using the festival of Holi as an event in your plot? It certainly has the potential to start your story with a lively beginning. You could also use it as a happy ending, where your main protagonist(s) can start afresh, as Holi also represents new beginnings.
3. Suspension of Differences
During Holi, total suspension of differences between people happens. Everyone is equal. People from all backgrounds, rich and poor, different ages, castes, classes and genders come together.
Writing Tip: You could use this dismissal of differences between people as a goal of your story, where you aim to bring about equality. On the other hand, you could actually create further differences between protagonists in your story or novel, to create tension and thrill throughout, with the aim of coming to the conclusion you want.
Image credit: Subharnab on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India. He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]