We have said it before and we’ll say it again: The festival of colours, Holi has always meant something different for the women of the country. It’s the time of the year when the hooligans unleash some of the most uncouth behaviour, hiding behind one of the most insincere festive phrases in India: Bura na mano; Holi hain. It is literally translated as ‘Don’t take offense at my behaviour; it’s Holi after all.’

Recently, Tolino Chishi, a female studying in Delhi’s prestigious Lady Shri Ram College for Women, happened to experience a particularly icky side of this festival of non-consent. Some loser flung a balloon filled with seminal fluid at her a few days before Holi. For the uninitiated, semen is not the traditional fluid of choice for Holi balloons. Usually, colour or plain water is used. Although there have been horror stories of hooligans using chemicals, rotten eggs and even rocks in this side of the country.

(Image source: Tolino Chishi/ Instagram toli_yes)

After the distressing incident Tolino took to Instagram to describe her plight. In a two-part post, she explained her plight: “I went out with a friend for lunch yesterday to a café in the Amar Colony Market. It was about 5 in the evening when we decided to head back. I had had a busy day but it had been a good one and although tired I was happy. That came to an end pretty abruptly though. Not a minute of our short rickshaw ride had passed when there came flying my way a liquid filled balloon of sorts, hitting me square in the hip where it burst open, its contents seeping into my kurti and leggings. It dried white on my black leggings and the foreign smell clearly indicated that it wasn’t water. Of course, at that point of time I didn’t guess what it really was. You see, nobody had thrown semen at me before yesterday or any other substance for that matter.”

(Image source: Tolino Chishi/ Instagram toli_yes)

Although Tolino’s plight is plain horrendous, every Indian woman has been at the receiving end of such barbaric behaviour every Holi in one form or the other. Mousey men who wouldn’t gather the courage to talk to women for the good part of the year unleash their inner lions as they arm themselves with pichkari and colour, focusing their attacks mainly on women. It doesn’t help that most of them are punch drunk on bhang and have hidden behind layers of face paint. This gives them the anonymity to carry out some of the most depraved fantasies. In a manner reminiscent of James DeMonaco’s 2013 movie Purge, Holi is a 24-hour period where all misdemeanours can be pardoned. The non-consensual colour slathering is one thing, but it’s the unabashed groping, pawing and molesting that makes this festival exponentially worse for women.

Last year, in the nation’s capital, undergraduate women at the University of Delhi had to be locked down inside their dormitories from 9 pm on Holika Dahan night to 6 pm the next day. To an outsider, the move may seem a bit extreme but not if you are an Indian woman. The cat calling and eve teasing they face during the rest of the year intensifies during the days leading up to Holi.

With no safe place left for women to celebrate, many have to forsake stepping out during Holi or celebrating it low key just among friends. We can wax eloquently about spreading awareness about consent and respecting women’s boundaries during the festival. But the sad truth is that the culture of non-consent perpetuated by the society around the festival of colours is what needs to be changed. So next time a stranger with a pichkari starts off with Bura na mano… spiel let’s hope kicking his teeth in would be acceptable on Holi too.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 27, 2018 07:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).