Patna, March 23: Gabbar Singh's unforgettable dialogue from the 1975 blockbuster Sholay - "Holi Kab Hai, Kab Hai Holi" - was on every lip in the city today.
Normally, people observe Holi the day after Holika, but this time only a few people were seen playing with colours on Wednesday. A majority of them said they will play with colours on Thursday.
In a nutshell, the city and most parts of the state will end up marking the festival of colours on two consecutive days, starting from burning of Holika early on Wednesday.
"As per tradition, Holi is celebrated on the day after burning of Holika. But since the auspicious timing for burning of Holika fell around 3am today, technically we should be playing Holi a day later. Hence, we will play with colours on Thursday," said Meenakshi Sinha, a homemaker based in Patna.
According to the Hindu calendar, Holika is burnt on Phalgun Purnima, which is the last full moon day in the month of Phalgun.
According to Hindu Pandits, the full moon or Poornima was around 2.30am on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
Though a majority of people did not play with colours, they cooked non-vegetarian items like mutton on Wednesday itself. This was because a large section of Hindus do not consume non-vegetarian food on Thursdays.
Mutton and puwa(a sweet dish) are otherwise, cooked in almost every second house on the day of Holi.
"Though we would be playing with colours on Thursday, we decided to cook mutton today itself as we do not eat non-vegetarian food on Thursdays. We would be making puwa and choley or mutter-paneer tomorrow," said Ranjan Kumar, an employee with a private firm.
Mutton-sellers also raked in the moolah today, thanks to a steep rise in demand. Mutton that is sold at around Rs 400-450 a kg on normal days was being sold for as high as Rs 700 on Wednesday.
"I opened my shop around 3am this morning and it will remain open all night tonight as well. We knew most people would cook mutton today as they avoid it on Thursdays. Hence, we had arranged for sufficient stock. Sale, too, was good," said Ejaz, a mutton- shop owner in Raja Bazar.
Confusion over which day was dry day led to shortage of liquor as well. Though the excise department had issued a dry-day notification for Thursday, most tipplers were seen making a beeline at liquor shops across the city on Tuesday evening itself, to stock up on their favourite drink before dry day.
"Our entire beer stock got exhausted last night. Liquor too was in short supply today," said Karan Kumar, a liquor- shop owner in Patna. "The shop was open today too, but most people had already stocked up yesterday. Alcohol sale was good this time, especially because of the partial liquor prohibition that would come into effect from April 1."
Many outsiders having a bachelor existence in the city seemed irked by the extended Holi as they could not find food, with most restaurants downing shutters on Tuesday itself. "I somehow managed to get some food from the railway station in the evening, but I am not sure how I will manage on Thursday, as those eateries might also be closed," said Ravi Ranjan who hails from Katihar and works in a private firm at Patna.
Confusion over Holi notwithstanding, many were looking forward to getting drenched in vibrant colours on Thursday. "Holi is my favourite festival as it is full of colours. It is the festival when all of us our joyous and there is happiness all around. It is one festival which buries all differences and brings in harmony," said Avinash Kumar, a resident of Ashiana Nagar.
