On March 14, the Sophomore Grade Leaders and Hindu Student Association (HSA) put on an annual Holi event, celebrating the Hindu holiday through live performances, traditional games, and color powder throwing.
HSA President and junior Michelle Moses said that “the HSA was involved in giving a quick presentation on what Holi is” as well as bringing decorations, henna, and food. Holi is a major Hindu Festival, celebrating the arrival of spring, and symbolizes new beginnings, forgiveness, and unity. During this day, family and friends come together to eat food, catch up, and throw colored powder at each other (the colors have distinct meanings and the act of throwing them references important religious stories).
Coordinator of Student Activities Jamie Baranoff said, “I think celebrating cultural events is an important part of the THHS experience. We have so much diversity in this school, and it’s exciting to be able to learn about different cultures and to have fun celebrating together.”
Sophomore grade leader Julian Kleintmuntz said, “I feel the structure [of the event] offered a wide variety of activities for the attendees. I also think each activity was able to embody the spirit of Holi through the decorations, games, and powder throwing.”
Freshman-Sophomore Co-President Aki Benjamin said, “Our SU members and grade leaders organized [the event] very effectively and were able to make it all happen. It was organized to maximize time and resources while allowing us to keep our low prices.”
Reflecting on the event, he said, “Next year, I would wish that we could expand to more people. As a result of the time required for setup, many people probably already left the building, so we may have lost some potential participants.”
Members of the HSA also reflected on their role in planning the event, and the overall turnout.
Michelle said that although she was satisfied with the overall turnout and that she “could tell that everyone seemed to have lots of fun,” she thinks that the SAT being just days after the event led to lower interest in the event amongst juniors.
HSA Public Relations Manager Kashish Kamu also said she thought there was a correlation between student turnout and the SAT. She said that for next year, “[HSA] could advertise the event more so more people can show up,” and she “hopes that [HSA] will be able to have more hands-on activities that allow students to participate more.”
Regardless of whether or not they celebrate Holi personally, students were able to enjoy the event’s offerings with their peers.
Sophomore Zoe Quijote said that while she doesn’t celebrate the festival, she enjoyed participating in the event for the past two years. “[The event] was bigger this year than last year. I liked the food and drinks, and the color-throwing the best. ”
Sophomore Nobonita Chanda, who celebrates the holiday at home with her family, said her favorite part of the event was the powder throwing. “I got to see people from different backgrounds celebrating one of my favorite holidays with me,” she said.
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