The sentient population of this country is divided between loathing Holi, Fagu Purnima, and loving it, seeing it as a chance to get back at someone-anyone-and vent their mixed feelings about the state of the world. The almost complete annihilation of cultural significance aside, Holi is slowly becoming more aggressive and appears to require a large-scale deployment of dermatologists.

If you think you're a Wild Party Animal on Holi, smearing everyone in sight with colour and hitting them with those lethal little water balloons, lolas, think again. Lab tests on two of the most common colours, abir (red and yellow) reveal high percentages of toxic heavy metals like chromium, cadmium, lead, nickel, and even traces of mercury. Some of these can leave permanent harmful traces in the body if inhaled or ingested, others cause skin irritation and eye infections.

Krishna Kasaju and Mohan Kasaju are a father-son duo involved in selling colour and paint for the past 25 years. They have a little shop in Bangemudha where they sell colours and paint of every kind. "We used colour in our day too, but not like today, when kids use just any paint," says the older Kasaju. Asked whether they knew if metallic colours were harmful Manoj Kasaju replies: "We know they are, but what can we do about it? It is the customer's will." The colours used today are cheaply produced in factories in India and do not conform to any standards. Our investigation showed that there is no official monitoring of these chemicals. Says Dr Jaya Prasad Baral, a dermatologist: "Some of the colours can cause skin irritation but it depends on the amount of toxic chemicals in the colour."

For women, getting poisoned isn't the only cause for concern. The sheer wretchedness of the South Asian male finds numerous creative outlets on this day. Fagu Purnima literally means 'the full moon of the month of Fagun'. Among other things, the festival ushers in the joys of spring. Spring is all very fine, but the associations of virility appear exaggerated in the minds of many, who use the day as a free-for-all grope-fest. Stories abound of women, especially foreigners, being physically abused by unruly crowds of bhang-intoxicated youth and fights erupting between groups throwing gutter water at each other. For many women holi is a terrifying experience. "It's fine playing on the day itself, but guys start throwing lolas many days before the actual holi. This is sad because they throw them with such force that it hurts terribly," says Shovna Shrestha of Patan. "It is harassment, but people don't understand," she adds. Laura Gilchrist, a Britisher resident in Kathmandu for two years, says she doesn't budge from the house on Holi.

It wasn't always like this. The Hindu scriptures, the Puranas, say that Holika, a legendary demoness, was burnt to death on this day. Although she had this nifty power of being resistant to fire, she was burnt to death when she leapt into a pyre with Prahlad, her (pious) nephew who refused to accept his father Hiranyakasyapa as the most powerful creature on earth. Other legends have the young Krishna playing pranks on Radha and her friends in the forests of Vrindaban during this season-clearly the inspiration of wannabe Krishnas today, who see sexual harassment as justified by religion.

Anyway, for a long time, the full moon day in the month of Fagun has been celebrated as the victory of good over evil, the beginning of spring, and a celebration of life. People in the tarai conduct religious ceremonies on the evening of the full moon, burning effigies of Holika and celebrate the day after, people in the hills celebrate on the first day. And yes, in the good old days, the colours used were vegetable extracts.

For the Thakalis of the Thak Saatsaya region in lower Mustang, Fagu Purnima, or Toran La, as they call it, has its own significance. Here, Toran La is even more important than Dasain. The festivities begin a day before the actual full moon and continue till the day after. Like at Dasain, family members gather together from all over and make merry. The men still wear the traditional labeda suruwaal with raw silk turbans and women the nhukun chollo, the traditional Thakali female dress. An astounding variety of food items are cooked. The men participate in archery competitions and the women play paana (cowries) and kai, a pebble-picking game.
The Thakali Samaj Ghar in Kathmandu is trying to preserve these traditions, even if many of their members have permanently given up their ancestral homes in Thak Saatsaya. But the archery competitions are turning into serious gambling affairs, and the festivities don't seem as wholesome as before. Jyoti Sherchan, a former chairman of the Samaaj, fears the dominant "modern" pan-Nepali culture might slowly be wiping out his own. Says he: "The government needs to recognise Toran La as a festival of the Thakalis and give us an official holiday, like they do for Dasain." Likewise there are Nepal's few Sikhs, who also celebrate Fagu Purnima, what they call Hola Mohallah, in a manner similar to the mainstream Hindu celebration, but mainly to strengthen communal harmony.

Holi is a time for fun, colours and the ingestion of bhang, yes, but in the face of toxic colours, harassment and the homogenising of traditions, one wonders how long it will remain this way.