Anshu

Colours!

After the past few months of whiteness all around me - the snow at Stevens and a ski trip to Scranton, Pennsylvania, I had almost forgotten about the existence of other colors. And as if to remind me, it was Spring! "Holi" was here! Also known as the Festival of Colors, the Indian festival, Holi marks the beginning of Spring and is the most fun filled festival. People play pranks on one another and everyone is licensed to have fun! 

Holi also is the celebration of the victory of good over the evil. Legend has it, that the demon king Hiranyakashyap had a boon of not getting killed by a human or an animal, inside or outside a building, by no weapons, neither during the day nor by night; he assumed he was unconquerable and hence God himself. His son, Prahalad, on the other hand, was a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu and was not ready to accept his father as the supreme power. The king tried to kill his son and in an attempt to do so, Prahalad was made to sit on Holika's lap (the demon king's sister), who had a boon of resistence from fire. They were made to sit on a pyre which was set ablaze in front of a large gathering of people. Miraculously, it was Prahalad who survived and Holika who was charred to death. Eventually, Lord Vishnu incarnated as 'Narsingh,' which literally means a human-lion. He killed the demon at the porch, at dusk, using his claws.

In India, on the day of Holi, the symbolic pyres are lit at night followed by playing with colours and water bolloons the next morning. And of course, how can an Indian festival be complete without loads of delicacies. 'Thandai' being a speciality drink during Holi.

The 'Indian Graduate Student Association' at Stevens kept the tradition alive by celebrating Holi with 'Rang Barse 2009.' Though there were no water balloons or colours, there definitely was the festive mood. With enthralling performances, both songs and dances and a hilrious skit on Indian celebrities, the audience was left craving for more. The programme was followed by an Indian dinner, which by far was the most awaited part of the evening. The evening ended with the entire Indian community dancing away to Bollywood music. Yes, we welcomed Spring in our own special way here and I have fallen in love with colors yet again :)

 Getting Ready

      

     The E-Board Singing the National Anthem

 

                                                                                                                                                    

    Performances at Rang Barse 2009

 

  Food!!

 

                                                           

          

This is how we party!

Virtuous Beauty

 

 

For an international student, the entire process of shifting base to the United States is challenging enough. To add to it, if you join in spring, you make an entry, bang in the middle of winter! Frankly, the entire idea of 30 degrees Fahrenheit or less was making a chill run down my spine back home. I thought the freezing winter at Stevens would make everything look gloomy and would add to my homesickness.

With all my apprehension tucked by me, I did land here, fought the weather with a red nose and red ears and ultimately, I think I'm more or less acclimatized. The good thing is that rather than dampening my spirits, the winter here is alluring. 

The beauty of the fresh snow everywhere is simply mesmerizing. Nature in it's purest form, so enticing and delectable...

Surrounded by this virtuous whiteness, as I walk around the campus, I feel ever so grateful to be a part of a prestigious institute in my jaunt to achieve what I want; to behold the ever-inspiring Manhattan skyline right from here and to be 'in the right place at the right time.'

It all adds a skip to my gait and I say to myself "Watch out! You wouldn't want to slip and break your nose as yet..."