Last Sunday the Indian community in Atlanta celebrated Holi, the Indian festival of color that is celebrated in spring. It is a unique celebration of high spirits, when the new season is celebrated with a mixture of lively rich colors. It is like a grand kaleidoscope that glorifies all the hues that tinge and renew the lives on earth.

The celebrations took place at the Indian American Cultural Association (IACA) grounds in Symrna and was attended by several hundred people from all over metro Atlanta. The Indian community was joined by manyAmericans and everyone seemed to enjoy the music and the jovial mood that characterized the occasion. This event was coordinated by Dr. Gouranga Banik with help from all dedicated and hard working volunteers.

Holi falls on the first full moon day in spring, the month when the nippy north wind bows out to the refreshing and rejuvenating breeze from the south, heralding the onset of the ensuing summer. It is thus a festival of spring and a time when the seasonal cycle is in transition. This is when nature starts donning new color and new foliages start sprouting on the branches, dried and weary over a winter. It is also time when the winter harvests are reaped and bundled in sheaves. The air is filled with promises of warmth and new lives as the earth discards the wintry glum to greet the bright sun of summer. Beset with this exhilarating backdrop, Holi comes, flinging colors and verve into the landscape, marking the renewal and rebirth of life. Holi is thus a celebration of life, love, unblemished joy, and good spirits.