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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
At the beginning of March, many Indian communities celebrated Holi, the festival of colors. Celebrated as a way to welcome the victory of good over evil and the arrival of spring, Needham hosted Holi at the local VFW on March 31.
Originally celebrated as an ancient Hindu festival, Holi is now celebrated by many non-Hindu communities and has become popular in the United States. The Needham Holi team, a group of Needhamites who grew up with the tradition and organized the event for the town, welcomed the entire community to join them in celebrating.
“I am so excited,” said Sakina Saif-Mulla, one of the event’s coordinators. “We’ve been living here since 2004, and the community was such a small group back then. I’m so thrilled to see the community grow, especially in the past five years, and this was just an opportunity to have everybody to come together. Everybody wanted to do that, so a few of us talked about this and we were like, ‘Let’s get this going and make it happen.’”
The event began with an animated video about the history of Holi, which helped many of the children and community members unfamiliar with the festival understand its significance. Afterwards, several of the event’s coordinators performed a Bollywood Holi medley dance.
Much of the afternoon was spent dancing, socializing, and enjoying Indian cuisine.
At 2 p.m., though, the event goers went outside to “play with colors,” a tradition that includes both adults and children throwing colorful powder made from food coloring and flour at one another.
“Growing up, we used to go out of the house and play colors with neighbors, kids, and other friends who would stop by,” Sakina said. “Usually, it’s a day event and the weather is pretty tropical in the month of March when this festival happens, so everybody comes out of their homes and there’s music playing. It’s fun. People get dirty at the end of it, but they don’t mind it.
“The other way they do it is that they hug each other and wish each other Holi. They apply colors on the cheeks, on the forehead, and the chin, and then you hug each other and say, ‘Happy Holi.’”
After only a few minutes outside, it was as if those participating in Holi had been completely tie-dyed from head to toe. Many of the children snuck up on their friends and parents to mark them with the colorful powder, while those who have celebrated Holi for a long time gave hugs with the colors.
“It’s really just grown and grown,” said Aniketa Sarkar “It’s a nice way to get the community together and the children love all of the bright colors.”
Flaunting their colors, the community members danced outside and relished in the warmth of both the sunny afternoon and the joy of celebrating Holi with loved ones.
“I feel great because I still feel like I have India in my heart, even though I’ve lived here for so many years,” said Sakina. “Sharing these moments with the community is an awesome feeling.”
