Just a few short days ago, some fellows associated with a terror org called Indian Mujahedeen struck 8 different locales in the city of Jaipur, located in the northwestern state of Rajasthan. This so-called Pink City was the unfortunate victim of an ongoing and rather obscure campaign to create a more religiously polarized subcontinent. Dozens of people, representing at least three faiths, died in the blasts. These pictures are a tribute to the Jaipur that I visited, months before these attacks transpired. 
To what end? What nihilistic purpose did these cycle bombs serve? Whose ego was stroked by these acts of destruction and rage? Whose mental flames were stoked by carnage and grief and ire? Responsibility is diffused. Law enforcement cannot quite grapple with the consequences and the necessary preventative measures. And another tier-two Indian city will fall prey to the same story in just a few months.
Holi in Rajasthan is a holiday for all. Or at least almost all. Color squirting galore renders the place a veritable bath of orgiastic hues, distributed alternatively by sadistic, egalitarian, and fraternal means. The act of dousing a stranger in sharp tones is cathartic to the max. Holidays that involve any means of connection with absolute strangers in a visceral, sincere, and vibrant experience are the best. Every day is a Holi day!
These Jaipur bombers must have missed out on Holi. Or, maybe they have had too many bad Holi experiences. Perhaps, as many allege, they are from elsewhere and never had the good fortune to engage in the glorious Rajasthani Holi festivities. Nihilism need not be channeled into creating combustible devices that wreak havoc on body parts and other contiguous matter. Use Holi for moderately outrageous but ultimately harmless color wars, stop the senseless terrorizing, and Jai Jaipur!
1 comment:
That "Gypsies" are from India is a far fetched theory only. A theory cultivated by those who wish to rid themselves of "Gypsies" as the next step toward a Nazi type, final solution. At this time, there is no way to determine race or national origin by way of DNA testing. Gypsies have been living in Europe for well over 800 years. To repatriate the "Gypsy" makes about as much sense as repatriating the English back to wherever they invaded England from. Just because I now live in the United States does not make me indigenously Native American. And just because I now speak English does not make me indigenous to England. Just because I like to dress in blue jeans does not make me a gold miner or a Cowboy. Just because I learned to dance ballet does not make me Russian or French. If I decide to pierce my nose, it would not make me Indian. And even if I decided to get an African tribal tattoo, it would not make me an African or a tribes man. Repatriating people after a millennium of absence is a ridiculous concept. What if we repatriated all the indigenous people from Europe, who now live in Australia, and the Americas, back to Europe? Ridiculous!
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