Holi, the Indian festival of colors and water was being played all over the city, and with equal gusto in chowdhury raj Singh's haveli. As festivals go Holi is the most liberating one in a society which traditionally demands restraint; at least outwardly, there is a demand to remain modest; for women not to indulge themselves; and for men to be careful in their flirtations. Married women were certainly out of bounds for any open flirtation. But not on Holi day.

In fact, on Holi while the maidens are undoubtedly sought after by the young men, the greatest display of sexual energy is with the married women. You can often see them kissing openly, allowing their wet bodies (wet from the water splashed around at Holi) to be ogled, letting themselves be groped in stairways and corridors and indulging in the man or men that might be their fancy, but are socially out of bounds.