Tasneem Lukmanjee
With streaks of vibrant powder in their hair and iridescent bubbles in the air, students celebrating Holi took over USF’s Welch field Friday, March 21 as a part of the Indian Students Organization (ISO) annual celebration.
“So Holi, we do every year to welcome in the spring festival of colors. Holi was actually last Friday, but we were on spring break which is why we’re doing it now[…] Basically we throw color and play with the water to welcome in the new season,” said Anshika Bedi, junior psychology major and ISO’s current vice president.
Holi is a Hindu festival which is meant to embrace hope and new beginnings as spring makes its way on the lunar calendar. Similarly to other Hindu festivals, Holi’s date is determined by movements of the moon which can mean it can vary from year to year. Celebrations mainly include wearing white white and throwing gulal, colored powders, and pani, colored water, and at the end of the day friends and family join for festive foods and sweets. ISO had a table on the lawn laden with packets of variously hued powders and colorful water guns as well as bright pink lemonade and soda. A nearby bucket was filled to the brim with water balloons.
“It’s a pretty beloved event at USF, last year it was really rainy when we did the event so we’re super happy and lucky that today it’s very sunny, but we do events for all the major festivals and holidays. Especially for the international students, we want to make sure that, you know, after coming so far, that they have somewhere to celebrate,” said ISO’s social media manager, Kashvi Kamra.
“I celebrate Holi every year so it’s really nice to have it at USF too to bring the South-Asian community together,” continued Kamra, a sophomore marketing major.
The festivities started at 3 p.m., and students were given white t-shirts insignified with “This shirt was white.” Within the hour, those shirts were plastered with water and splattered with hues from orange to purple to blue. Strapped with water balloons and water guns, ISO made sure attendees left doused in water or color. At one point, USF’s hose was brought out, and against the backdrop of a sunny San Francisco day, there were silhouettes of rainbows across the green and students chased each other with color and different sources of water, including water guns, balloons or the hose.
The event also featured an an eclectic blend of music, which ranged from Bollywood hits like Akon and Hamsika Iyers “Chammak Challo” and “Sadi Gali” by Lehmber Hussainpuri and Raj Shekahr and pop songs like Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance.”
Julia Htay, freshman entrepreneurship and innovation major said, “My friend Krisha texted me that there is a Holi event happening. I’ve heard of it before and I’ve always wanted to come to an event like this.”
When asked about how she had been enjoying the event so far, “I think it’s really fun with all the colors. But I didn’t know water is also included,” laughed Htay.
ISO’s secretary Amay Saraogi, freshmen computer science major shared how this event made him feel closer to home, “Honestly the part about being apart of Holi which is an event that is celebrated mainly in India is very appealing in the U.S. because that gives a sense of feeling at home and being in with people who know what Holi is and how to celebrate it, it’s a happy experience so far,” he said.
Harboring similar sentiments was freshman computer science major Devanshi Singh who said, “I used to celebrate [Holi] with my cousins and my family back at home and the fact that ISO is organizing it here, well it made me feel good. It’s been fun celebrating with friends and just having fun.”
Reflecting on USF’s own little festival of color, Htay shared “Throwing color at each other and just running around and chasing just reminded me of my childhood and my friends.”
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