Corrina Taylor
Staff Writer
Andy Brown Park East was a sight to see last weekend. It was not the usual scenic view of the lake and trees that made it a sight – it was the cluster of kids and young adults running around covered in all the colors of the rainbow.
These rainbow-plastered kids were running around throwing a mixture of powder and water at each other in order to get the powder to stick to each other. This was not a game to see “how angry you can make your mother;” it was a celebration.
“Holi is the festival of colors where we gather to celebrate the happy time whenever spring comes and you see flowers in the trees; you see a lot of color, and that’s what we celebrate – the colors,” senior and president of the Junior World Affairs Council [JWAC] Priya Gupta said.
In order to celebrate this holiday, there was a wide assembly of colorful powders to use to throw at each other. Some of the more innovative kids involved had the idea of mixing the powder and water inside a water gun to better hit their targets. When more and more people began to arrive, and the powder began flying it became difficult to differentiate who was who under the colorful powder.
“Holi is festival of colors – you can’t be nice and polite with anyone,” sophomore Sahithi Narayandas said. “You have to get the color and just put it on them make them get all colorful and at the end of the day you are a rainbow.”
After all of the running around, there was a table for the kids to get refreshments such as snow cones, homemade ice cream and samosas. Samosas, pastry filled with spiced potatoes, onions, peas, coriander and lentils, or ground lamb or chicken are a traditional Indian food that are often eaten during Holi celebrations.
Along with the food, there was also lively music playing. Remixes of traditional Bollywood music combined with regular party music created a catchy tune that was easy to dance to. The music was just another attribute that brought everyone together on this holiday.
“Ever since I moved here I haven’t had the opportunity to [celebrate Holi], but the fact that JWAC is bringing it to Coppell is great considering its high Indian population,” senior and JWAC vice president Jeetika Rao said. “It is another way for people in the community to gather and have fun, it is really awesome for other cultures to get involved too,”
The Holi celebration was held by JWAC and was just one of the ways that members of the club could involve members of the community. They recently held Heritage Night in which people of all ethnicities could come and bring food from their culture and be able to experience all of the other cultures that were there.
March 24 was a day in which everyone came together of different cultures in order to have fun and enjoy themselves. JWAC is expecting more opportunities for cultures to come together. In a suburb as diverse as Coppell it is good to stay in touch with your roots but to also branch out and learn about a new culture.
Video by: Courtney Powell
