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Holi Colour

Waseda Research Associate Lea CHANG

I went to Delhi, India from March 19 to 22 for the purpose of adding Indian judicial decisions to the RCLIP's database of Asian IP precedents. After the fruitful meetings, I had an opportunity to take a look at the Holi, one of the three main festivals of India.

The Holi festival is the "festival of colours" to celebrate the start of spring in which all kinds of things come to life. The date of festival changes every year depending on the Hindu calendar. It was March 22 this year. (It will be March 11 in 2009)

Because it is the "festival of colorus", people show their happiness singing and dancing, throwing colored powder and water at each other all over the place. The festival is so frenzied that people have to be prepared when they go out. People throw colored water at the passersby from the window of the buildings or suddenly from behind. The Delhi Police put warning ads on newspapers cautioning against throwing colour on unwilling persons or throwing water balloons at passersby, using chemical colours, drinking and driving, and riding triple on motorcycles. In several weeks before the Holi, throughout the country, India has become excited in a festive mood and the media like newspapers and televisions have covered the topic of the Holi all the time.

Traditional Holi colour is made at home by mixing plants and spices. For example, to make blue colour, you should mix dried jacaranda flower with indigo and add water until the colour becomes desired shade of blue. To make green, you should mix spinach, mustard, and coriander paste together with water. That's all you need to do. For yellow, you should just mix turmeric power and besan power in the proportion of one to two. For red, the colour of turmeric powder magically changes into red by adding a few drops of lemon juice. By the way, I wonder it is possible to make it the intellectual property to blend such Holi colours.

As such, traditional colours are harmless to human body if taken because they are made of plants and spices. However, it cost much to make and it will not come off for weeks once they stick to face or body. Therefore, in every Holi season, the media features topics something like "know-how by Bollywood actresses（Bollywood：Hollywood in India）" to introduce how to clean off colours. According to a popular actress who is gorgeously smiling, the best way to protect skins and hair from Holi colours is to make sure to wear a sunscreen before going out. Then, after applying cleansing cream well on the colours, it is better to wash away gently rather than rubbing. For your information, it is also good to use the cooking oil mixed with milk.

Next to such articles, you can find some ads for shampoos or cosmetics to wash away the Holi colour completely as well as ads for organic colours made from all organic materials, which are now prevalent among people. You can also find comments on celebrity's fashion in the Holi season (it is popular to dare to wear white to contrast colours). "Holy Holi" is at the top of Indian people's interests in this season.

On the other hand, articles warning chemical Holi colour were noticeable. It takes time and money to prepare natural materials for making traditional colours. In addition, it is difficult to remove natural colours if they cling to the body. So, recently chemical colours made in China are sold in the market, targeting such a niche market. Those chemical colours become extremely popular among young people because they are well washed away and cheaper than traditional Indian colours. But skin troubles because of chemical colours have been reported in a stream. Therefore, Ministry of Environment and Forests and Department of Consumer Affairs run a campaign about natural herbal colours.

Because I have sensitive skin, I could not take on colours. However, vivid-colourd people all over the city seemed to be having fun very much (some people looked almost black because all colours are mixed up). If you have a chance to visit to India, you should target the season of Holi.