Students didn’t let the gloomy weather stop them from lighting the sky up with a rainbow of colors on Sunday afternoon.
Students from all religions and cultures came together to celebrate Holi [12], a Hindu festival. While many celebrate the day for its fun atmosphere and playful background, the day also has historical significance.
“It was to celebrate the demise of the evil goddess Holika and it’s basically a celebration of her death,” said Nikhil Vinodh, an economics and psychology senior and president of the South Asian Students Association [13]. “So on this day, we put color and water on each other and it’s just a day when people just forget their personal differences and their problems and their fights and just come together as one community to celebrate the festival.”
Students spent most of the afternoon running around Hendricks Field, throwing bright powdered color at each other. Despite the chilly weather, all types of colors, from purple to yellow, filled the air. Some students even dumped full buckets of water on each other.
“Everyone’s so happy and willing to spread colors and love and I love it,” said Khija Rockett, a freshman in the Falk School [14], who was celebrating her first Holi. “It’s like a festival of happiness.”
Many wore white to show off their colorful shirts after the festivities were over. Close to an hour after the event had started, the sun even made an appearance, much to the delight of the soaking wet participants.
For many, the event goes further than its fun and playful surface. Many students saw the event as an opportunity for all people, whether of South Asian descent or not, to come together and bring joy to everyone involved.
“It’s a great cultural exchange, being Muslim and it being a Hindu holiday,” said Yusuf Abdul-Qadir. “Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs have lived together in peace for a long time, so just like I would want Hindus and anyone else for that matter to respect the Muslim tradition, it’s a great Hindu tradition.”
After three hours of powder, water and laughter, students did not seem to want to stop celebrating. Despite the cloudy weather, they still enjoyed celebrating the colorful Hindu festival.
