'Season of love'

Bombay, India, meets Bloomington. \nA colorful Indian celebration with authentic food, music and traditional henna tattooing, or temporary body art, doesn’t have to be half a world away.\nA group of 30 multi-ethnic, multi-racial members of the Bloomington community gathered Friday at the Asian Culture Center to celebrate the Indian Holi Festival, or Festival of Colors, to commemorate the coming of spring.\nHoli is a festival marking the end of winter, the coming of spring and the “season of love.” The colors are a sign of happiness and goodwill, according to the Asian Culture Center.\nThe festival began with a slide show explaining the meaning of the Holi Festival, followed by a brief discussion period with questions from the audience.\nAfterward, participants tasted foods and sampled music from India. \nWendy L. Ho, graduate assistant and student outreach coordinator for the Asian Culture Center, said the event is celebrated annually at IU and the ACC takes part in it every year.\n“There’s a huge misconception that the Asian Culture Center only does things that relate to East Asia,” Ho said. “ In fact, we celebrate events from all over Asia, including Southeast Asia, and I hope participants who came here for the first time learn this about us.”\nAccording to the Society for the Confluence of Festivals in India, an organization in India promoting and preserving Indian culture, Holi is the most energetic and vibrant of Indian festivals. The organization says the festival “celebrates the triumph of good over evil forces and helps to spread harmony and brotherhood in the society.”\nDuring the celebration, participants listened and danced to upbeat Indian music, tasted some authentic Punjabi, or north Indian food, and drank Chai tea.\nOutside, dressed in jeans and T-shirts – or any clothes they did not mind being colored – the participants smeared bright pink, orange and red powder on one another’s faces and arms.\nSenior Rishi Verma, a computer science major, covered from head to toe with bright orange powder, said everybody from India celebrates the annual event. He said the festival was a time for family and friends to gather together.\n“North, south or wherever, everyone celebrates this event,” Verma said. “I came here when my shirt was one color, but as you can you see, that has changed. It’s all fun for everyone.”\nShweta Gupta, a graduate student in math education, said the Holi Festival represents friendship and companionship.\n“It is said that when you have an enemy, you are supposed to smear the colors on the enemy to show friendship or reconciliation,” Gupta said. “It is a time to be happy.”\nFor more information about the Holi Festival, visit the Asian Culture Center’s Web site at www.iub.edu/~acc.