On an otherwise dreary Wednesday, MTSU’s Indian and Nepali Associations splashed the Student Union Commons in rainbow colors.
The clubs partnered for the second time to host Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors. Holi celebrates the beginning of spring by tossing gulal, a paint-like colored powder, over family and friends. MTIA and MTNA members also doused each other with water hoses, drank mango lassi and poured entire bags of powder over friends.
“It’s a representation of good over evil,” Om Patel, president of MTIA, said. “The colors are a celebration of that.”
Traditionally, Holi falls on the Purnima, the day of the full moon, during the Hindu month of Phalguna. Holi took place on March 13 and 14 this year, but MTIA and MTNA celebrated on Wednesday. Holi is known for its vibrant colors, but also symbolizes the return of nature each spring and the love between Hindu deities Krishna and Radha.
“It’s one of MTIA’s biggest events,” MTIA secretary Hailey Patel said. “It’s just a great way to bring the community together.”
In addition to Holi in the spring, MTIA hosts Diwali in the fall. MTIA also holds henna fundraisers, game nights and general club meetings.
Organizers set up three folding tables in the STU North Commons, stocked with piles of white t-shirts for sale. If students chose not to buy a t-shirt, they were welcome to get paint on the clothes they came in. The majority of participants ran wild through the grass, chasing each other with bags of gulal. As new participants arrived, there were mutters that they were “too clean,” moments before being decorated with thick, multi-colored gulal and sprayed with water. Of course, as each participant was painted, everyone exchanged the same pleasantry: “Happy Holi.”
“I hope everyone can feel the joy that Holi brings,” Pratyusha Shanker, a member of MTIA, said. “It’s a very joyous holiday fostering love and color and light into people’s lives.”
While students threw powder and drenched each other with the hose, they danced to Indian music coming from large speakers. They also gathered around one another, chatting like old friends. At the Holi celebration, no one was a stranger.
“With MTSU’s big Indian population, I wanted to bring a family community where a lot of people can learn about what we have in India,” Om Patel said, interrupted by a spray of water against his back. “Because, I feel like, culture is something you share. It’s definitely something I’m proud of, and hopefully, in the future, it becomes something bigger than this club. Not only Indians, but everyone from different heritages and different cultures.”
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