Holi, the festival of colours has special significance in the Indian Army. While Indian Army takes pride in celebrating all the festivals, the physicality and the attraction of colours makes Holi extra special. This festival bridges the barriers and builds the comraderies of brotherhood in all ranks of the Army.
For the Indian Army, the preferred colour is Olive Green, the colour of the uniform and many other items in the Army. The other colours are black and white. So essentially, the Indian Army has serious colours for the sake of uniformity in its daily life. Other colours like red, blue, green, yellow etc. are used but largely as regimental colours. It is the festival of Holi which generates multiple colours, with their vibrancy and vivacity which breaks monotony of their disciplined and regimented life.
Indian Army also has a well laid out hierarchical structure of rank and seniority. It follows a strict chain of command. For example, a Sepoy serves under a Havildar, a Non-Commissioned Officer. A Havildar reports to a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO). A JCO reports to an officer, say of Captain rank. Captain serves under a Company Commander who is of Major rank. Company Commander reports to Second in Command who is a Lieutenant Colonel, who further reports to the senior most officer in the unit, a Colonel rank officer who is called Commanding officer. It is not that the rank structure is always sacrosanct but is strictly followed in the functioning of the unit.
It is during the festival of Holi that all ranks become equal and there is no hierarchy to separate officers and soldiers. Traditionally, it is during the festival of Holi that all soldiers and officers of a unit embrace each other with colours, be it wet or dry. The festival also bonds all the soldiers like no other because it allows them to mix even with the Commanding Officer. In a strict organisation like the Indian Army, Holi celebrations are a breath of fresh air for everyone to enjoy and chill out. The bonding between the officers and soldiers gets further cemented.
A day prior to Holi, Holika Dahan is celebrated in the evening. Holika Dahan is a formal function in the Indian Army. On the evening of Holika Dahan, all ranks of a battalion or regiment assemble at a central place. This gathering of around 800-1000 all ranks of a unit, fondly called Paltan, is like a military parade. A huge bonfire of wood is kept in the centre of the assembly. All ranks stand around it in sub units’ formation. The unit Religious Teacher narrates the story of Holika Dahan and its importance. Essentially, Holika Dahan is victory of good over the evil.
For the troops in Army, the victory over enemy is conveyed through Holika Dahan. At the appropriate moment, the Commanding Officer of the unit lights the bonfire and all ranks shout the regimental war cry. The war cry could be Bharat Mata ki Jai, Bajrang Bali ki Jai, Durge Maata ki Jai, Jai Badri Vishal, depending on the regiment you belong to. Thus, after seeking the blessings of the Almighty, the Paltan breaks off.
The next day of Holi is a closed holiday in the Army. The preparations for the Holi festival start a week in advance. First and foremost is cleanliness and upkeep of the unit area. Indian Army sets very high standards of cleanliness and takes pride in a spic and span unit area. The time of the year also sees flowers blooming at their best and depending on the terrain, flower beds in the Paltan are well decked up. In short, the unit utilises this opportunity to showcase clean and green military areas.
On the day of Holi, the jawans and officers invariably get-together at a central place. While the event is not a parade proper, but all ranks assemble prior to the arrival of the Commanding Officer. Each sub unit puts up a Shamiyana to keep all available dry colours for the use by everyone. No one has to bring individual colours and gulaal. Eats and drinks are also catered for. On the arrival of the Commanding Officer, all ranks put dry or semi wet colours on everyone. There is lot of merrymaking and jovial atmosphere as even the junior most jawan gets to hug, greet and put colours on his Commanding Officer.
Depending on the Paltan tradition, wet Holi is also permitted. The wet Holi adds extra fun in the celebrations. The sheer physicality of wet Holi is exhilarating. I distinctly recall an incident during Holi celebrations in my unit as the Commanding Officer. We were expecting the visit of a senior commander to my unit, immediately after Holi. As part of improving the get up of the unit, I had ordered a water fountain to be made. The water fountain was huge but my troops worked hard to complete the project just two days prior to Holi.
On the day of Holi, wet Holi started in the Paltan as per the tradition. After a while, every one gravitated towards the water fountain. Much to my dismay, every one entered the water fountain and very intense wet Holi was played inside the water fountain. I was annoyed that the water fountain made for the visit had been spoiled. But it was part of Holi spirit and everyone shared Happy Holi before departing.
To my utter surprise, I saw a clean and fully functional water fall the next day. I had expected the place to be dirty, full of mud and colours. But later I came to know that the officers and soldiers had worked in the night to restore the water fountain as good as it was. That is the beauty of Indian Army. Our soldiers understand the mind of the leadership and work to make impossible possible. A couple of days later, the senior commander visited the Paltan and appreciated the water fountain made by us.
I would like to end by saying that the festival of Holi is supposed to unite everyone. Even if there is some minor difference or a few things go bad, we Indians should work extra hard to reconcile or rebuild it. The various colours of the Holi festival show the beautiful diversity of Bharat and a combined palette of colours denotes our unity, always and every time. Happy Holi my countrymen.
