India soaks in colours of Holi

New Delhi (PTI): Thirty-two Holi revellers drowned while one person died in a clash as the festival of colours, heralding advent of summer, was celebrated across the country on Wednesday with people applying 'gulal' on each other, gorging on sweets and singing and dancing to songs and drum beats. There were gusto and bonhomie as merrymakers, with clothes drenched in myriad hues, thronged lanes and narrow alleys, giving a go-by to old squabbles and distributed sweets. People embraced each other wishing 'Happy Holi' as unseen hands squirted them with a well-timed coloured water spray. Water-filled balloons were lobbed from rooftops and balconies as cries of 'Holi hai' reverberated the streets. However, tragedy struck when seven youths in Kanpur drowned in two separate incidents while taking bath in the Ganga after playing Holi. Sixteen people, including eleven teenagers drowned in Andhra Pradesh's Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts and at Kukatpally in Hyderabad when they went to bath after Holi celebrations.Six revellers also drowned in two separate incidents in Ahmedabad and Navsari districts of Gujarat. In Bengal, three persons drowned in separate incidents in Howrah district while washing themselves in the pond after taking part in the revelry. In another incident in the state one person was killed and five others were injured when two groups clashed while playing Holi in Nadia district. Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde celebrated Holi with BSF jawans at an outpost near the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district. The festival was celebrated by the Hindu community and security forces with traditional fervour and gaiety in Kashmir. President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed the hope that the festival will strengthen faith in national values and promote oneness and harmony.