NEWTON, MA–The United India Association of New England held their annual Holi celebration in Newton MA.
Rakashi Chand, president of the United India Association of New England, said that Holi celebrates the beauty of a colorful World, and signifies the victory of good over evil, and it brings people from all walks of life together equally in a fun celebration.
“It is important for me as an Indian-American to preserve these cultural celebrations and to teach our children to espouse and engage themselves, to keep our heritage alive in America,” said Ms. Chand. “Holi is a festival that we can share with the world, and that is why we at the United India Association of New England strive to celebrate Holi every year and invite all of you to join us.”
Ms. Chand said that she hopes to have a state-wide public Holi celebration soon.
“Holi is a wonderful festival that everyone can enjoy, from young to old! We want to share this with our neighbors and friends. We want to share and celebrate the things that can help bring our world together and make it more beautiful and vibrant,” Ms. Chand said.
Known as the Festival of Colors, Holi is the most vibrant and colorful celebration the world over. In India, people take to the streets for a day-long celebration that includes singing, dancing, and most importantly, throwing color (or Gulal) onto everyone you meet, using pichkaris (water guns) and water balloons among other things.
UIANE’s Holi event began with Committee members greeting guests with silk floral necklaces or malas. There was a lavish buffet lunch and dancing to Bollywood music by DJ Rishi.
Ms. Chand and Vice President Aditi Soni welcomed the audience and began the program with the help of guest Emcees Sivani Jonnalagadda, Aditya Soni, Divya Sharma and Madhurima Agrawal.
There was a dance performance of traditional Punjabi folk dance by the Hadippa Dance Group and a rendition of the popular Holi song “Rang Barse” was orchestrated by Manish Arora inviting the crowd to sing along. The huge dance floor gave plenty of opportunity for everyone to execute their best moves! Children had their own “Kiddie Corner” with supervised arts and crafts related to Holi. Once the indoor activities wrapped up, the crowd was escorted outside to “Play Holi”.
It was a beautiful April afternoon to play Holi! A live Dhol accompanied the color-play and keept the crowd dancing. Friends, families and strangers began throwing colorful powder at one another. Some launched full on attacks and covered their loved ones with many different hues. Others ran to hide and avert their color-throwing friends. Still others adorned themselves with as much color as possible and took tons of fun selfies to post online. It was a memorable afternoon full of frivolity and merry making. A happy, but colorful crowd, sadly departed once it was all done, to wash the colors away, until next spring when the vibrant color of Holi will return once more!
The United India Association of New England is a non-profit cultural organization founded in 1984 with the mission to preserve and promote Indian culture and nurture the values of our Indian heritage by planning, developing and executing programs to bring community together.
The Committee and Board of Directors of the United India are: Aditi Soni, Anil Sood, Parvin Khetarpal, Neeta Datta, Priyadarshani Kumar, Gyneshwar Varma, Dolly and Yash Sood, Sonia Sharma, Manisha Chowdhary, Aanch Jain, Rakesh Soni, Veena Kapoor, Sarla Karla, Vikas Selhi, Rekha Palriwala, and our board of Advisors Kidar Vaid, Jatinder Sharma, Dolly Raja, Neela Gandhi, Devinder Dutt, Suresh Gidwani, Vijay Selhi, and Shobha Khetarpal.
