Holi celebrations 8 March 2012: Precautions to enjoy Holi safely

Holi is around the corner. It is a very popular festival in India. It is a festival of colors. Youth enjoy Holi in a free atmosphere spraying various colors on the participants of holi.

Earlier, people were using homemade colors, mostly vegetable based ones. Those colors had very little harmful effect on the body.

Unfortunately, with the popularity of the Holi festival, demand for colors also increased and thus chemical colors entered the market. These chemical colors can have serious and harmful effects on the body, specially hair and skin. So, it is better to take a few precautions so that the harmful effect of chemical colors are avoided or at least reduced to a significant extent.

Here are some precautions that can be taken while playing Holi:

1. Before going out to play Holi, oil your hair thoroughly. Oil will not allow the color to stick to your hair. Moreover, it would be easier to wash off the colors once Holi is over.
2. Use besan and malai (cream) to wash the colors off your skin rather than harsh detergent soaps. Using besan and malai also helps in avoiding roughening of the skin due to chemicals used in the colors.
3. Avoid using chemical colors.
4. Try and use herbal colors, which are less harmful. But, choose them carefully, there are fake herbal colors available in the market.
5. Advice and urge your friends and relatives also to use mild herbal colors during Holi.
6. If possible, use spectacle to keep the colors away from your eyes.

Play and enjoy Holi, but safely. Happy Holi. Holi Hai.