Play this Holi with natural colours

Ritu was dreading the day of Holi. More than the messy clothes she was worried about her skin which would have a rough texture after a day of playing with colours. It would be months before she can regain her lost silken texture of skin and hair. She would not want to go around with those tangled rough hair. Over the years Ritu has also realized that no amount of applying oil or crème would help get rid of the side effects of those colours of Holi. Over and above this she would have to spend hours rubbing off those colours from her body.

But Ritu had until now never heard of natural colours. Natural colours are derived from skin friendly sources such as turmeric or haldi, flower extracts, sandalwood and mehndi besides several others. And actually Holi can become very soothing after playing with these colours. These coulours are cheaper and can be easily prepared at home.

Ancient India was fully aware of the benefits of the fragrant natural colours for our skin and health and also their therapeutic value. The ingredients of Gulal were purposely chosen for their emollient qualities. In Vrindavan, Holi is still played with actual flower petals chosen for their fragrance and colour such as rajnigandha and rose.

With this we are not just saving our skin but our environment as well. Harmful colours when washed go into our rivers and can be dangerous to the river animals. So this Holi let’s all enjoy the colours that are environment friendly and can bring glow to our faces right away.

Imagine after a game of Holi your skin begins to glow and your hair get an added bounce or lustre. Instead of making Holi a nightmarish experience let’s get into the skin of it, what say?

Techfest Starts On January 24

Techfest, the Annual International Science and Technology Festival of Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), is all set to start from January 24. This is for the first time the Techfest is going to global as students from Sri Lanka, Dubai and Denmark are going to participate in the fest.

Techfest, is popular among science and engineering students across the country.

A competition for legged robots for the first time named the 'arthrobot' is being introduced by the organizers. The participants are expected to build a legged robot which can pass through a designated path in the least possible time.

They are expecting participants to build a biped (having two feet) robot, which is very difficult at institute level. "We will definitely get quadrupeds or six-legged robots," added Shintre.

Around 20 teams will participate in the initial rounds. Three teams from each centre will participate in the finals at Mumbai.

Besides the competitions, Techfest is also offering a platform for innovative ideas. 'Prayaas', one of their competitions, will allow participants to present their ideas on how to use renewable sources of energy. There will also be workshops on ethical hacking and archery.

Techfest 2009, scheduled from 24th to 26th January, promises to carry the legacy handed over to it through eleven years and bring a bigger and a better Techfest.