A holiday where the tradition to throw colored powder on your face is celebrated throughout the world.
The weekend of Easter sometimes falls at the same time as Paghwa, the Hindu holiday that celebrates the onset of spring and the Hindu New Year. On the Hindu calendar in 2005 it was 2062. The greeting for Paghwa is "Subh Holi." It's quite a celebration and probably one of the most fun non-Christian holidays one can come across.
A good place to experience Paghwa is anyplace where there is a predominately Hindustani population. One such country is Suriname, which has segments of Hindustanis scattered throughout the South American country, especially in the Commewijne district, located across the capital city of Paramaribo, and Nieuw Nickerie, which is on the border with Guyana.
During Paghwa, upon seeing a Hindustani on the street or at their home - especially kids or someone you know - expect to be greeted by them rubbing Paghwa Powder all over your face and hair. Paghwa Powder is none other than baby powder with food coloring and it comes in different colors, with green, orange, yellow, pink being the most common.
If at a Hindustani family's home, the custom is the host will treat you with traditional Indian snacks, such as nan bread, cooked vegetables and samosas. Sometimes, relatives of Hindustani families live close to each other, so it is common for other family members to come over. But the powdering doesn't happen once. Again, expected to be greeted with face powder splashed all over you by visitors. and greeted with "Subh Holi."
The colored powder can be found in regular stores in Suriname. And upon walking or driving on the street, it is easy to tell who is celebrating Paghwa by looking at their faces.
At least in Suriname, Paghwa isn't a celebration without a party, especially at a bar. Once night falls, Hindustanis will crowd a bar. The music will be cranked up, and people will start dancing and tossing and pouring powder on everyone else's faces. It almost seems wrong to be on the dance floor if you don't have a bottle of powder in hands. Be careful, as some people can get quite aggressive with their powder and literally pour the entire bottle over your heads at the same time other people are doing the same. The experience can be euphoric as it is chaotic.
When it's time to go home, If you have partied a great deal, you'll want to hit the shower fast to get the powder all off. But don't expect to get it off after one shower.
And also plan on doing some laundry.
