Dancers took to the stage and vibrant colors filled the air as the Indian Students Association — along with other students and Athens residents — celebrated Holi.
The Holi Festival, also known as the Festival of Spring, took place this weekend with Pre-Holi on Saturday morning and Holi on Sunday night. The theme of this year’s event was “Unity in Diversity.” About 100 people participated in Pre-Holi, which kicked the festivities off with an event called “playing with colors.”
Playing with colors — during which participants throw colored powder in the air and at each other — brought attendees together, said Manindra Singh, a graduate student studying molecular and cellular biology who helped plan the event.
“After applying colors, no matter where they came from, different countries and different people, they were all looking the same,” Singh said. “Our theme of Unity in Diversity came out really well.”
The Baker University Center Ballroom was filled Sunday night with more than 300 attendees, who watched cultural dances and a skit that depicted the theme of harmony in India. Attendees were also able to eat traditional Indian food prepared by Banana Leaf, a restaurant in Columbus.
The night started with a flash mob coordinated by Bhakti Shah, a graduate student studying education administration and vice president of the International Student Union.
“It was an international flash mob, and it took about two weeks to coordinate and synchronize,” Shah said.
To further emphasize the theme of unity, Hashim Pashtun, a graduate student studying environmental engineering, sang songs in several dialects from India, including Hindi, Punjabi and Sufi.
The night also included homemade decorations prepared by members of the Indian Students Association. The tables were adorned with hand-painted pebbles with symbols, such as the symbol for “Ohm,” drawn by Reetobrata Basu, a third-year doctoral student studying neuroscience and a member of the committee that planned the festival.
“I painted all of those in one night,” Basu said.
Ximing Li, a graduate student studying neuroscience, heard about the event through an Indian student in her department and said the main draw of the evening was the food.
“I love eating Indian food, and I thought it would be fun to see some of my friends from the department dance,” Li said.
The food represented the variety of cultures in India and showcased different specialties from different states, Singh said.
The skit that was performed highlighted different religions, their competing values and how they united in the end, said Anurag Raghuvanshi, a graduate student studying electrical engineering avionics and the cultural director of the Indian Students Association.
“The skit was indicative of communal harmony,” Singh said.
Raghuvanshi helped plan Holi while also completing his thesis defense.
“I decide how many hours to sleep, and I see how much work I have to fit in to however much time,” Raghuvanshi said.
Overall, the Indian Students Association was very pleased with how the event turned out and how well the theme came through, Singh said.
“We want to make the event much bigger next year, especially because this event went so smoothly,” Singh said.
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