The bright mixture of blue, red, pink, and yellow bursts of powder floating through the air made it hard to believe that finals week was approaching for the South Asian Student Union (SASU). Faces and clothes covered in pigment were seen all around the quad during lunch. Laughter and chatter erupted from the gathering as participating members of SASU celebrated Holi, a traditionally Hindu festival, March 17.
Holi, or the “Festival of Colors,” is a Hindu celebration marking the arrival of spring with roots tied to the divine love of the Hindu deities: Radha and Krishna.
During the celebration, club members gathered in the quad and threw colored powder called “gulal.” The event was meant to involve more students in a traditional South Asian holiday and provide a stress-free experience. Students of all backgrounds were encouraged to participate, and co-president Kristen Lund (11) said her favorite part of the celebration was seeing cross-cultural interaction and appreciation for the holiday.
“I wasn’t expecting there to be many people [participating] because Holi’s not a very known holiday compared to Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas, so I was very pleased with the turnout,” Lund said. “Everyone was just being themselves and celebrating a new culture, or having a good time sharing their own culture. Nobody was left out, everyone was putting powder on their friends or people they’d never met before.”
From a non cultural perspective, Lund said she thought the celebration was an important opportunity for any student, regardless of background, to relieve stress and get their minds off school for a few minutes.
“The meaning of Holi is important to recognize in a school setting because it symbolizes renewal and new beginnings, which is very important for students who care a lot about their grades,” Lund said. “Especially around the end of a quarter, as it allows people to easily transition to quarter four and accept the outcome of finals.”
The Holi celebration was the largest event the club has organized on-campus, but they try to incorporate different cultural aspects of South Asian countries in all of the meetings. Co-president Nila Pillai (11) said that the meetings commonly consist of a presentation and cultural food.
“We pick a country from South Asia and do a presentation about their culture, traditions and bring a cultural food from that country as well,” Pillai said. “We try to find new ways to incorporate different elements of each country into our meetings so that people get a wide array of cultures.”
The event was the first Holi celebration ever held on campus, as Pillai and Lund only reinstated SASU as a club last school year. Pillai said they decided to restart the club in an attempt to provide South Asian students their own space and connect students of differing South Asian backgrounds. Pillai said that she felt like many of her peers didn’t fit into any of the other existing clubs and student groups.
“I feel like our club brings another cultural perspective to Westview because our school has a large Asian population, but we felt like there wasn’t any space that we fit into, as we wouldn’t fit into East Asian organizations,” Pillai said. “We decided to start up [SASU] so people similar to us would have somewhere to gather and interact. We wanted to bridge the gap that’s been missing on campus, and I feel like we’ve been able to bring people together that are from different South Asian countries.”
Although it wasn’t their original goal, Lund and Pillai have also seen increasing interest in the club from many non-South Asian students. Lund said she believes this is largely due to the open celebration of Holi.
“Although it stems from Hinduism, celebrating [Holi] sort of helped break the religious boundary because it was just something fun that people could do to take a break and enjoy themselves,” Lund said. “It was important to celebrate at Westview because it was able to connect people of all cultures. It’s mainly an Indian holiday, so it’s very important to connect and share that culture with people of other cultures. Any kind of cultural recognition is important at Westview since we have such a diverse population.”
To further involve people of all backgrounds, the club is planning a volunteer opportunity that will raise money to buy school supplies for children in Sri Lanka. Lund said they are working with her extended family to launch the project.
“We are going to try and do a philanthropy opportunity where we’re going to raise money to make custom backpacks for kids in Sri Lanka that can’t afford them,” Lund said. “We’re also going to collect old school supplies and donate them.
Pillai said that her time in SASU has opened her up to other South Asian cultures outside of her own. She said she’s also enjoyed gaining a more holistic perspective on South Asia.
“It has been amazing getting to know people that are similar to me but have different experiences,” Pillai said. “I’ve gotten to understand what it’s like to come from different parts of the same region and still have different cultures. Even in India alone, there are so many different cultures in North and South India, which are represented in the club. My favorite part has been interacting with different people and seeing my culture be appreciated on campus and interacted with on a wider scale.”
