Over the weekend, the Undergraduate Indian Students Association held a Holi event on Leutner commons. Holi, also known as the festival of colors and festival of love, celebrates the coming of spring as well as the legend of Holika, a demoness in Hindu mythology whose death signifies the triumph of good over evil.

As music blared, students threw powdered colors and water balloons. Soon, the air was dusty and students, who mainly wore white, were covered in neon colored powders and were playfully throwing more colors at each other.

Student Jill Patel participated in the event because it was fun and a part of her culture. Student Arjun Gopinath said about Holi that “It’s an event that brings together most of the undergraduate Indian students while giving non-Indians a taste of Indian culture… It’s really fun to see my friends who weren’t exposed to Indian culture to this extent have fun and throw colors around.”

While Holi is a Hindu holiday, many non-Hindus also participated in the event. Elliott Pereira says that Holi offers a fun time to relax with friends and celebrate his Indian culture, despite the fact that he’s not Hindu. However, there were complaints that the colors ran out in the first hour, despite the fact that the event lasted for two.

After the celebration, refreshments such as samosas and soda were offered. As the wind blew and the color powders settled down, the sea of colorful people truly signified that spring was here.