सभी का स्वागत
All Welcome
All Welcome
Holi’s great, isn’t it?
Cast your sins into the fire. Throw colours with random strangers, and random abandon. Laugh freely and joyously. Dance. Laugh again. Try to shake the colour out of your hair and try to beat the colour out of your clothes. Enjoy the sight of elderly grandparents, tiny children and everyone in between – all doing the same thing, all covered in glorious technicolour. Enjoy how surreal it is. Enjoy how magical it feels.
In our case, all in a big shed in Hackney. For all of you who were there, you’ll know how much fun it was. There was no actual bhang in our lassi, but everyone seemed as high as kites. People who had never met before were rubbing powder paint in one another’s faces, dancing and improvising a conga. And in a way, I think this is exactly what we need more of in London.
One thing is for sure; London is growing. Our city is getting busier and more crowded. We Londoners are forever moaning about accelerating property prices, and more flash sports cars seem to be racing pointlessly up and down Knightsbridge. And as the city grows, I’d like to think we can make sure that it’s truly a shared city. That all of us find ways to have fun together, to break down barriers, to leave aside differences and celebrate each others’ culture. Even if it’s only for a few short hours, it’s really important. A city that doesn’t do this becomes a nervous and divided city, full of suspicion; a sad dystopia. Let’s never let that happen to London.
So, in that spirit, we promise to keep throwing our Holi parties, if you’ll all keep coming!
Enjoy our little video of this year’s Holi, see the (massive) photo gallery – tag yourself if you were there. And, most importantly of all, come next year!
The July issue of Dishoom Loves is already here (and perky, for your eyes). Fill your mind with some of the best South Asian talent, from a 17-year-old playwright sharing her life story, to a beauty expert’s top tips and tricks. And, a doctor who writes about henna.
Arched into the cobbled lane of Trinity Street, behind a mustard yellow door, an all-day bar-café cuts loose. Not to be confused with the buzzy bars in Dishoom cafés, this Permit Room is entirely other – a tribute to the way Bombay kicks back and cuts loose – a salute to the city’s permit rooms, beer bars and drinking holes.
June brings the promise of sun-drenched days – or monsoons – balmy nights and a smattering of first-class cultural happenings.
People, community and planet.