Compiled by Our Bureau; Photographs by Rashbehari Das

Colour Code

Holi without gulal is like Himmesh Reshammiya without his cap or an Ekta Kapoor’s serial without a K in the name. But remember colours with added chemicals are the fastest way to do a demolition job on your skin.

Stay in the safe zone and go guilt-free with organic and chemical-free gulals sold at the Hub or indulge in some special Holi perfume found at the Sohum Shoppe priced between Rs 450 and Rs 650 for every 250 ml bottles.

You can also try out the “fine quality” Holi colours — also chemical-free — sold at Mohan Market in Fancy Bazaar. Priced between Rs 300 and Rs 400 per kg. Try out the vibrant yellow and orange colours on sale.

Pamper your kids — or bring out the child in you — with designer phickaris sold at the super-markets and malls. The phickaris come in different shapes and colours and are priced at Rs 400 to as low as Rs 60 a piece. Check out the phickaris at Hub and Sohum Shoppe.

Holi splash without any hangama. Sing and dance through the day, drenched in myriad of blue, red, orange and green hues. Sing aloud the all time favourite Holi anthem Rang Barse from Big B’s film Silsila and see how the crowd joins in with a Holi Hai!

Bring the curtains down on the celebrations by joining Dashion — dance and fashion — show at the Illusion. Don’t forget to be dressed in the traditional lehnga-choli or kurtas as the party, designed by style guru Dipankar Kashyap will be ethnic with a capital E.

Food faves

To keep going, you need some serious ammunition in form of fingerlickin’ munchies. Chef Pradip Rozario has a couple of quick and easy recipes up his sleeves.

You could try Machor Dol Yatra for a starter.

Get fish fillets, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste, a cup of cooked rice and a tablespoon of mustard powder. Marinate the fish with lime juice, mustard, salt and pepper and then coat them with cooked rice. Steam the fish and serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Vegetarians can try the colourful Cottage Cheese Fingers with Tricolour Sauce. Take equal amounts of cottage cheese and assorted bell peppers and capsicums. You need lime juice, salt and pepper to taste, butter and mayonnaise sauce. Skewer the cottage cheese and diced bell peppers together. Marinate with seasonings and lime juice. Take half a cup each of puréed red, yellow and green capsicum and blend mayonnaise sauce into each of them to make the coloured sauces. Heat the butter in a non-stick pan and grill the skewered peppers and cottage cheese. Serve hot with the sauces.

And if your too lazy to cook, step into the Yellow Chilli for the Beer and Biryani festival where you get the beer free for every meal you order. Alternately, try out the sumptuous Mughlai dishes at the newly inaugurated Moti Mahal or the best of Chinese cuisine at the just-opened Mainland China.

Sweet Nothing

After the tussle to splash colours on your friends and family, you might have to ease the atmosphere with them. So go back to the traditional methods and sweets always help.What better way than try the melt-in-the-mouth cakes at Eggxotic and Cake Corner.

You can even try out Chef Rajak’s recipe for Whisky Dark Truffle chocolates. Get a kilo of dark chocolate, 280ml double cream and 120ml whisky. Roughly break the dark chocolate. Boil double cream and add broken chocolate pieces. Mix well till it reaches a smooth consistency. Add whisky and allow it to cool. Make small roundels and coat with melted dark chocolate.

Body beautiful

But even as you’re painting the town red, green, blue or any other colour, do keep your damage control measures in place lest your skin works up a revolt.

Suparna Trikha Dewan swears by natural remedies. She suggests: “Apply a good coating of oil on your body and hair before going to play Holi. You can use sesame oil, almond oil or light olive oil. And never wash off colours with soap. Soak a mixture of powdered almond, oatmeal, margosa leaf (which acts as an antiseptic), ground masoor dal and milk for some time. Scrub your body with the mixture and wash off.”

Skincare expert Jamuna Pai echoes Dewan. Going natural is what she emphasises. “To revitalise damaged hair after Holi, use coconut milk or aloe vera gel. Massage scalp for about five minutes. Leave

it on for 20 minutes. Wash with a mild herbal shampoo. Use plenty of conditioner after shampooing.” And for skin rashes and redness on face, Pai’s prescription is grated cucumber and buttermilk, which should be mixed and applied on the rashes two or three times a day. “Do not rub or scratch the affected area,” she warns.

And once you’re done with the day, go in for a complete pampering. You owe your skin at least that much. A good spot to hit would be Zubin’s Veda for a full-body de-toxification treatment or aroma therapy to revive those weary bones. Or try out the skin treatment at the Florescence Beauty and Spa Clinic to wash out all the colours you had soaked in.