In Hindi, the name Haridwar stands for Gateway to God. Built on the banks of the sacred Ganges the city is one of the seven holiest sites in Hinduism and one of the four centres that hosts the festival called the Kumb Mela. The event is the religious equivalent of the Olympics. Once every four years multiples of millions of devout Hindus descent on Haridwar to bathe in the Ganges. Though we're not in a Kumb Mela year we're travelling to the city to film Twinkle (The Girl Who Cries Blood) observing the ritual and bathing in the river in an attempt to rid herself of the 'Restless souls' that a Mystic claims are 'boiling her blood'. It'll be a key cultural sequence in the documentary and the first time she's ever seen the Ganges let alone bathed in it.

We've timed our arrival to coincide with the first full moon of Phalgun - the last month of the Hindu Calendar. It's an auspicious day. It marks the beginning of Spring and the start of Holi - a religious hoilday popular in India called the 'Festival of Colors'.

Tradition has it that people throw brightly colored powders over each other, eat plenty of sweets and generally go a bit wild in the streets. Apart from being great fun to witness, Holi should provide lots of colorful footage for the film.

I'm not wrong. We arrive in the city as celebrations are in full swing. Children are going particularly mad and it seems everyone and everything is covered in the red, blue, pink, green, purple and yellow powder called Gulal that's being freely tossed about. There are a few tense moments when buckets of water, water bombs and packets of powder are thrown at us (the crew) in the rickshaw - but luckily the camera kit escapes relatively unscathed.

It's a shame the same can't be said of me. I'm cornered by a gang hugged, back-slapped and dowsed. Holi is an unforgettable experience - even if you wanted to. The dye is all but impossible to wash off. Much to the amusement of everyone in the crew (and Twinkle) I, Mr. Director-Ji was bright shade of pink for the rest of the week.