It is 4th March evening in California, so it must be the morning of 5th March in India.
Tomorrow is Holi, and I send you all my Holi greetings on this occasion from across half the globe.
On many a Holi day I would go to Mathura, the land of Lord Krishna, where Lord Krishna would play Holi with his gopis. I wish I were in India. If I were there I would have gone to Mathura, and spent a few days there amidst all the colour and festivity, but I am stuck here in California.
Now let me tell you a historical account which happened in Avadh ( whose capital was Lucknow ) in the reign of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who reigned from 1846 to 1856.
The Nawabs of Avadh were totally secular. They celebrated Hindu festivals like Holi, Diwali, Dussehra, etc regularly.
It so happened that in a particular year Holi and Muharram coincidentally fell on the same day. Now Holi is a festival of joy, but Muharram is an occasion of sorrow. The Hindus of Lucknow got together and decided that that year they would not celebrate Holi out of respect for the religious sentiments of their Muslim brethren.
In the morning the Nawab took out the Tazia procession from Bada Imambara to Karbala ( in Lucknow ) and buried it there. He then enquired why Holi was not being played. He was told the reason.
The Nawab then declared that since Hindus had respected the sentiments of their Muslim brethren, it was also the duty of Muslims to respect the sentiments of their Hindu brethren. Hence he declared that Holi would be played the same day, and he himself was the first to start playing Holi, and then it was played all over Avadh, though it was Muharram day.
