WATER FESTIVAL IN BURMA

In Burma there is a festival called "Yerappo" which is a water festival celebrated praying God for rains.
It is somewhat akin to the Holi festival the main difference being that only plain water is used.
The festival lasts for 4 days, the first three days being celebrated in increasing crescendo of water spraying on all the people who walk in the streets irrespective of age, religion nationality or sex.
The emergency taps meant for fire will be opened in all the streets and people mainly boys but lots of adults also will flock there armed with buckets, cans, water pipes of different sizes and other items.
Some will have water pistols loaded with scented water meant for the fairer sex. .
All the offices, schools, colleges will be closed. We, the boys will be longing for the festival and will partake in it with full vigor from morning to evening becoming completely drenched.
All the vehicles will be stopped, including buses and all the people will be sprayed with water. Some people will dodge and run and will be relentlessly chased. Usually nobody objects or gets angry.

Some people hire Lorries and vans and carry the people armed with the water pipes, and drums full of water often iced.
It will be stopped in all the streets and there will be a battle of water spraying.
The people in the Lorries or jeeps will be of a mixed lot with many ladies. They will jeer and ridicule the ground people. Many times they will sing Kana songs!

In its midst there will be a separate kind of celebration.
Lorries will come decorated of the kind we see here in Independent day parade.
There will be only a small hole for the driver to see and drive but then they are driven only slowly.
Nobody sprays water on them. The men and women will be clad in fancy dresses. Each street will have a stage decorated as in the political meeting here. As the decorated vehicles arrive one by one, each will stop in front of the stage and they will perform dances to the tune of their local orchestra. After that, the stage people will perform their dances, usually by the local teenage girls and boys! This will go on for all three days and nights...
The water spraying completely stops at 6 p.m. after which only the dances continue sometimes going on till midnight.
In the fourth day the water spraying also stops. Only the dances are performed and this time the vehicles will come and see whether they have won prizes assessed by the local judges.
The winners [there will be many] will again dance, this time with renewed vigor. . The stages will also be assessed by a touring group of judges and will be given prizes..
The vehicles [they would have won prize in one place or other] will pass through shouting and singing showing off their cups and shields. It is truly a wonderful spectacle!!