The Indian Students Association will usher in spring with a burst of color this weekend.
Holi, also known as the Festival of Color or the Festival of Spring, will be celebrated this weekend by playing with colors, cultural dances and authentic Indian food.
Reetobrata Basu, a third-year doctoral student studying neuroscience and part of the committee planning the festival, said that this festival is about celebrating spring and friendship all together.
“What really matters right now is that throughout India, people, no matter what their religion is or what their past is or what their age is, they just get involved in celebrating this,” he said.
This is the first time the festival has had a theme, which is “Unity in Diversity,” said Amrita Basu, another committee member and a fourth-year doctoral student studying molecular and cellular biology.
Despite India being the home of myriad cultures, everyone stands strong together and is still one country, Reetobrata said, and Amrita agreed.
“We’re trying to portray how diverse our culture, our food and our dance forms are,” Amrita said.
An exhibition will be held at the festival to display a variety of cultural dancing and music.
“I don’t remember anything exhibiting a part of India like this before,” Amrita said.
Everyone is welcome to attend the event, though Pre-Holi tickets are limited to 100 tickets, while the group planned for around 300 tickets for the actual Holi event. Tickets will be available at the events.
The “colors” — colored powder — for the Pre-Holi event are non-toxic and were brought back from India. At the event, attendees can participate in the playing of the colors, when the powder is applied to each person’s face to symbolize that there are no differences between people.
The committee is also making its own decorations, Amrita said.
“We are making posters ourselves and we also have invited everybody to make a poster about India,” Amrita said. “It can be whatever they know about India or whatever they think about India, just their perception of the country.”
The mythological origins of the festival are signifying the triumph of good over evil and it also signifies the celebration of love, Reetobrata said.
“Everything is barren in winter and then spring comes and everything is colorful,” he said. “It is a similar celebration where we want to express that.”
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