The University of Texas at Arlington celebrated the Hindu festival of Holi, which marks the arrival of spring. Around 150 students gathered behind the Maverick Activities Center where they sprayed colored water and powders on each other, soaking clothes and dyeing skin in vibrant hues. The Indian Student Association organized the event to bring people together and allow them to enjoy the spring weather through dancing, singing, and covering one another in gulal, or colored paint. Participants said the festival reminded them of celebrating with friends and family in India and helped them feel connected to their cultural traditions while far from home.

1. T h e u n i v e r s i T y o f T e x a s a T a r l i n g T o n
volume 91, no. 88
March 9, 2010 www.theshorthorn.com
since 1919
Student life
Holi paints campus with the joy of spring
Cultural festival dyes Maverick Activities Center ceived a box of Indian snacks
See more photos at
on Saturday afternoon to cel- and two packets of color. Or-
clothes, blasts water and ebrate life and color through ganizers used a water hose, TheShorthorn.com
celebrates the colors of life. food, dancing and cultural buckets and water balloons to
music. Participants sprayed add to the fun. and ugly with colors.”
By AlAnnA Quillen water and smeared Gulal, a “I was supposed to watch Tamanna Patel, ISA pub-
The Shorthorn assistant news editor
colored powder, on each oth- and sit on this hill, but I got lic relations officer, said the
Sitting on a hillside, Mi- er’s faces and clothes. pulled in and hosed down,” festival is one of her favorite
chelle Capuli watched puffs of Like a snowball fight with Capuli said. “I didn’t expect on religious celebrations.
color hover above a vibrant, color, the festival marks the getting colored up.” “The colored powder rep-
pulsating mass of festival-go- end of winter and celebrates Prasad Joglekar, physics resents how colorful the world
ers. the beginning of spring. graduate student and former can be,” she said.
The Net Solutions assistant The Indian Student Asso- HSC president, said the main Undeclared sophomore
manager didn’t plan on getting ciation, Hindu Students Coun- idea of Holi festival is to bring Trevor Henry, a festival first- The Shorthorn: Aisha Butt
involved but, at the Holi festi- cil, International Student Or- people together and enjoy the timer, was one of the many
val, staying clean is difficult. ganization and the Fine Arts spring. who was ambushed with the Suyash Chhajed, biomedical engineering graduate student, smothers
Around 150 people flocked Society of India organized the “It’s perfect weather today,” Gulal, colored paint, on Manas Bhalerao, biomedical engineering grad-
to the west lawn behind the event. For $5, attendees re- he said. “People are getting wet holi continues on page 6 uate student, at the annual Holi festival on Saturday afternoon behind
the Maverick Activities Center.
The Shorthorn: Aisha Butt
Alumna irene lazarus participates in the annual Holi festival behind the Maverick Activities Center on Saturday afternoon. Holi is the celebration of
life and color at the beginning of each spring.
holi
people form a circle and move faces.
to the music with their arms “It felt like I was celebrat-
and legs. ing in Nepal again,” she said.
continued from page 1 Vaishnavi Kapadia, Univer- “Whoever comes and plays,
sity of North Texas psychology nobody cares about getting
hose, buckets of water and senior, arrived in a pure white, muddy. That’s the point of
handfuls of colored powder. Indian dress. At the end of the Holi – getting dirty.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” he said. afternoon, she left in a soaked, Chemistry graduate stu-
“It’s a completely different, colorful outfit. dent Subhash Chand said
cultural kind of thing that I’ve “Within a minute, I was UTA’s Holi festival reminds
never witnessed. You just have totally drenched in colors, all him of playing with his friends
to open up and get used to it.” over from head to toe,” she and family in India.
An hour into the event, the said. “I’ve been waiting all “It’s so exciting to be here,”
overcast sky turned into sun- week for this — it’s a great way he said. “We are so far away
shine, fueling the jovial dance to relax and get away.” from our home but are still
and chants wishing each other Medical technology junior enjoying the same ambience
The Shorthorn: Aisha Butt
a “Happy Holi.” The crowd Sanju Bhattarai kicked and here.”
grew loudest when gathered screamed with laughter as she Mervyn Pinto, biomedical en-
into a Raas dance, a tradi- was dragged into a muddy pit AlAnnA Quillen gineering graduate student,
tional Indian dance where of colorful hands and smiling news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu partakes in the celebration of life
and color.