Today is Holi, a festival that can be traced back to ancient India. Now it is celebrated across religions, cultures and countries.
One of its distinctive trademarks is people covering each other with colorful powders, and on Sunday, the Winooski School District gym turned into something like a rainbow explosion. That’s where the Bhutanese Nepali Community of Vermont hosted Holi this year, moving it inside after the weekend's snow storm.
A couple hundred people showed up, and things started in the school auditorium, where everyone was welcomed in English, Nepali and Hindi.
This story was produced for the ear. We highly recommend listening to the audio. We’ve also provided a transcript, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Tul Niroula: Welcome everyone!
Rita Chamlagai: Swagat chha!
Prashant Yadav: Namaskar!
Tul Niroula: Today, we gather here to celebrate the vibrant and joyous festival of Holi, a festival that signifies the triumph of good over evil. The arrival of spring and the renewal of life. ... It is the time to forgive and forget to mend broken relationships and to start anew. … Now, I would like to request Durda Dhakal to come and recite Holi mantra so we will be blessed with that.
Durda Dhakal: Om shanti, om shanti, om shanti. Happy Holi! Happy Holi!
Tul Niroula: Please do not run away, we have food, we have plenty of color powder, enjoy yourself and please follow the teachers to the new gym, thank you.
Jeetan Khadka: Everybody can come in the front, grab a color, go around and wish everybody "Happy Holi!" You can dance, you can, you know, jump, you can do whatever you want. But be safe!
Alina Rai: It's actually really fun. I thought it was gonna be different because it's in the gym, but it's actually really fun. Other than getting your eyes all blurry!
Shiv Sharma: I'm so happy that we have been able to observe it here with — not only Nepali or Bhutanese or Hindu Indian community, but all of Winooski — everybody! It's really a victory of good over evil. Definitely. So much going on in the world right now, if we can come together, be one and celebrate — I think we need to spread this to everywhere, everywhere.
We have had smaller events, but this is the largest so far. ... One thing I'm so happy that Winooski school district is allowing to use us their gym. It's a big place, and I don't know how they are going to clean it! I hope everything goes well, because cleaning is the part that — nobody wants to do that. But there are so many volunteers.
Photos from the day
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