Every spring semester in late March, the Indian Student Association (ISA) celebrates the Holi Festival, and this year was no exception. Last Saturday, students gathered on Prassel Lawn to enjoy Indian music and food, and to throw water and colored powder at each other.
Also known as “The Festival of Colors” and “The Festival of Love,” Holi was first brought to Trinity University in 1994 with the founding of the Asian Subcontinental Association, according to the Trinitonian archives. The Holi Festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil.
“Holi celebrates the arrival of spring and its beautiful colors, while saying goodbye to winter,” said Pooja Bollampally, president of ISA.
ISA didn’t let this year’s rainy weather stop them from celebrating Holi at Trinity. However, planning and advertising were no easy feats.
“This was planned about a month or two ago,” said Subrat Mahapatra, a member of ISA. “We brought food from India Palace, brought the color from Houston and we have one of our members as our DJ here. We hung posters in Mabee and Coates, we made a Facebook group and we made a trailer of sorts on the page.”
The team put a lot of extra thought into the event and advertising this year.
“We also placed table tents and posters around campus. We prepared for this event by purchasing colored powder, or “˜rung,’ as well as popular Indian snack items, such as samosas and pakora, for our attendees to enjoy,” Bollampally said. “For the first time this year, we had a DJ play popular Bollywood music to create an enjoyable atmosphere.”
The Holi festival’s main attraction centers on the traditional throwing of colors, something that students at Trinity seem to really enjoy.
“I’ve been to the event before,” said Ivan Mireles, a sophomore. “This is my second time here. It’s so much fun!”
The students who showed up in white T-shirts were quickly covered in colors.
“It is a day full of celebration, fun and color,” Bollampally said. “We are so proud and excited to continue bringing such an integral part of Indian culture to Trinity.”
