Houses of the Holi

  Bombay, India
Sunday, March 4, 2007

Three girls enjoying Holi

I am writing this entry using recollection and a personal
journal that I have been keeping. Somewhere along the way, I
found myself really busy here in Bombay, or maybe just not that
motivated to spend so much time on the internet. In addition, my
computer has been adopted by two other housemates here, so it seems
that whenever I do have a free moment to use the computer, I have to
wait my turn in line. Obviously, I need to put my foot down on
that one as I'm being taken advantage of here.

Saturday was a regular day of castings-- I feel as if I am
becoming more adjusted to this place as well as the pace here. My
days are filled with castings, which usually involve long car rides,
one hour of cardio at the gym, and journaling in my free time.
Now that I've got that manic-I-have-to-be-always-doing-something
mentality out of my head, I find that I am quite happy to sit in my
room, reading a book or writing while listening to music.

That night Jignesh (one of my bookers here), Sky (the
British model here), and I took a stroll to Lokanwala Market, which is
less than a five minute rickshaw ride from our house. It's a
strip of various vendors, each representing a multifarious mix of Indian
goods. Our mission that night was to track down an affordable
outfit for Holi, a Hindi festival. Sky and I didn't have any idea
what we were getting ourselves into, but we were told to wearing
something white and which we didn't care about. I purchased a
white skirt for myself, and hoped that I'd be able to find a unclaimed
t-shirt in the apartment.

Back at the flat, Enakshi (the head of the agency here)
invited the models in the apartment to go next door to a rooftop Holi
party.

Greetings from the women in Saris

Entering the building, we were asked to remove our shoes,
and then two lovely women dressed in Saris put red dye dots on our foreheads. We climbed the stairs to the roof, and found a white-satin cushions blanketing the rooftop.

On the roof drinking Phang

Traditional Indian food was served, as well as a drink called Phang (a sickeningly sweet milky dream known for its hallucinatory properties).

Jignesh samples the Indian food... Spicy!!!

We sat beneath the Bombay sky, drinking, enjoying the food, and listening to a small acoustic band play songs in Hindi. It was such a peaceful evening, giving me no indication of the madness I was to encounter the following day.

Afterparty at Avalon