Trippy Tuesday is back and this time we have a wacky festival that will make women in India proud A.F.
Living in India can be taxing at times when you hear about the various crime stories revolving around sexual abuse and assault on women. But in this edition of Trippy Tuesday, The Sherp has decided to highlight a simple and innocent tradition which takes place in the country with an origin that reminds men to stay in line 24×7.
Hindu legend states that one day Lord Krishna wanted to visit his devotee Radha in her native village of Barsana. The day that he visits, Krishna – who is known for his mischief, teased Radha and her friends. The women of Barsana were so offended by this act, they chased him away from the city!
Keeping the story alive, even today this festival is held in Barsana. It takes place before the celebration of Holi in Barsana where men from the neighbouring village of Nandgaon visit the town to be greeted by women holding sticks or lathis. The men try to shield themselves as much as they can from the women who launch their ‘lathis’ at the men. But the real unfortunate ones are those men who are captured by a few women who dress them up in female clothes and make them dance in front of the ever-growing crowd.
This usually occurs in the Radha Rani Temple, which is the only temple dedicated to Radha herself. A month before the festival, the elderly women in the family feed all the girls in the household rich and fatty food in order to get enough strength to target the men running along the roads. This goes on for a week leading up to Holi.
During the breaks, both men and women drink ‘thandai’, a cold concoction laced with a bit of cannabis. It is said to be a way of de-stressing and a way to bond with everyone. Well, who wouldn’t bond over some cannabis? The men look happy as hell while participating!
These women take their makeshift job as a protector for the fun of the festival seriously and that shows that if put together in large numbers, we Indian chicks can be bad ass and have drinks with recreational drugs in them. We bow down to these women and their dedication to the festival while getting a chance to just hit people for no reason whatsoever! We’re jealous right now.