Love thy neighbour

My nose is a little pink. My fingernails purple. Yes, I played Holi today!

I know many of you didn't. Kuch log kehte hain, "I'm allergic to colour". Others feel "Gosh... too old for this". Many, including me, long for the good old days when we played Holi with our chaddi-buddies. What's the fun in chasing a neighbour you barely know with water balloons?

More of us need to find out - like I did. I think Holi is the one festival which gives us all an excuse to be kids again. And I might be imagining it, but I think the few adults who came out to play Holi this year in my building had a lot more enthusiasm than previous years.

And this might be stretching it but perhaps it is a sign of the times. As a cousin who is an investment banker with not too much work at hand these days observed over dinner last night,"Facebook is exploding... Everyone has so much free time!"

Even the gosh-do-I-really-need-to-connect-with-KG-classmate types are getting onto the bandwagon and discovering they're lovin' it.

The long and short of it is, recession is not a nice thing. Most people I know are worried... "Foreign banks will soon start downsizing", says one batchmate. "Wish I had never taken such a big home loan," mutters another.

From manufacturing to media, we're slowly seeing not just a freeze on pay but salary cuts.

And yet, I think there is a valuable lesson in it for all of us. Too much of our happiness had got hinged to the ability to spend money. Too little came from spending time with the folks we love and live with.

As Suze Orman would say,"People first, then money, then things." If takes a crisis to understand the truth in that simple statement - so be it!