Holi is a popular and fun Hindu festival that celebrates the eternal love of God Krishna and Radha and signifies the triumph of good over evil. Holi also celebrates the beginning of spring and a good harvest season. Holi is known as the Festival of Colors, as well as the Festival of Love. It is a time to forget any bad feelings or resentments towards one another. Holi is a time to meet family and friends, eat delicious food, laugh and most of all, throw colored powder on each other. The vibrant colors are a symbol of bringing positivity to our lives. It is celebrated in almost every part of India.
In order to keep this tradition alive for my son, we do several things every year. We start by reading a book about Holi the night before. On the day of Holi, we get together with friends, whether it’s in the park, at a temple, or at a friend’s house.
I played Holi for the first time when I was 3 years old. My family and I went to the Hindu Jain temple in Pittsburgh. First, we watched kids’ dancing and singing performances and ate delicious food. Then we went outside and played Holi. We threw colored powder on our friends, as well as strangers because Holi is a day of love. I had so much fun throwing the powder on others as well as having colored powder thrown on me. The next year, we went to a park with a lot of friends, and we played Holi there. We started by throwing colored powder on each other, and then we started using “pichkolis.” Pichkolis are water guns with colored water in them. Then we started throwing buckets of colored water on each other. We had such a blast. We did the same thing, the following year, at my mom’s friend’s house. Holi is one of my favorite holidays.I look forward to it every year.
