The Carnaval came and went last week, and unless you spent it locked in your room, you couldn’t have missed it. The city and the centre was teeming with hundreds of people in crazy costumes and colours. Living in Eindhoven it’s impossible not to get caught up in the carnival spirit. And if you would ask around what the big deal was, they would look at you like you are an ignorant foreigner, or worse, someone from ‘above the river’.

I went to see the parade in Eindhoven. What struck me the most was the amount of effort people put into celebrating this festival. Organising the parade, building floats and designing unique costumes to make the occasion special. I like the enthusiasm with which events are celebrated in this country. You have to be really motivated to put on a bright green skirt in near freezing temperatures. Or be really drunk. But I like to think it’s the former.

I used to think that the carnival was just an excuse for people to drink themselves silly. But now I’ve come to realise it’s a lot more than that. It’s a cultural symbol and source of pride for the people who celebrate it. It serves as a communal marker that people can identify themselves with and in doing so, acts as a social adhesive to bring people together. That is in essence, what it means to celebrate the Carnival.

And the best part about costumed festivals - everyone looks as crazy as the next one. So atleast for those couple of days everyone is equal, irrespective of race, colour or creed. And it’s in moments like these, when people wear bright fluorescent costumes and come together to celebrate that you realise who we human beings really are - drunk, bad dancers with terrible dress sense.