Assembling talent and excitement from four local universities, GW’s Indian Students’ Association drew a crowd of more than 1,200 people to its annual Holi Rangeela show Friday night at Lisner Auditorium.
Building on last year’s successful show, which included students from the University of Maryland, the ISA added George Mason and Georgetown universities to the roster this year.
The show featured a dozen dance and musical numbers in honor of the Hindu Holiday Holi (pronounced “holy”), a traditional welcoming of the spring season, ISA members said.
Based in various Hindu legends, the day signifies the triumph of good over evil and a festival of colors. In northern India, people celebrate the Holiday by splashing each other with brightly colored water to symbolize the colors of spring.
At GW, Holi meant “a time for Indian unity within the tri-state area schools,” said Rajan Bhaskar, ISA president. Bhaskar and ISA Vice President Jasmine Puri began planning the show in November.
He estimates at least 75 of the organization’s members actively participated in the show by performing or working behind the scenes. Many more came out to cheer.
“An event of this caliber can’t be done alone,” Bhaskar said. “It was the unity of our board and of our members that made it such a success.” Bhaskar and Puri made several trips to each school to iron out the logistics of the show, he said.
“Our biggest challenge was just getting the other schools to come,” he said. “Many of them came back from winter break later than we did and didn’t have much time to practice. Some of the schools didn’t think they’d be able to fit the event into their second-semester programming schedule.”
But in the end the show went off with out a hitch, Bhaskar said. Students said they were impressed with the way the schools worked together to pull off the show.
“The acts had a lot of variety and the show came together well,” said Lisa Vohra, secretary of GMU’s ISA. “I hope we can all come together next year too.”
Many performers said they enjoyed the opportunity to meet and socialize with Indian students from other schools.
“It was exciting once we got on the stage,” said GW junior Neil Badlani, who danced in the show. “The audience was so into it.”
In addition to the large number of Indians who attended the show, Badlani said he was pleased with the non-Indian student support.
“A few weeks ago, my friends and I all went out to the Step Show and it was great. Tonight a lot of non-Indians came to Holi,” he said. “It really is important, because the way we support each other’s cultural organizations on campus keeps them strong.”
The show featured both modern and traditional Indian dances and songs, many drawn from the country’s popular musical movies. The dancers, many of whom have studied Indian dance their entire lives, were resplendently dressed in native costumes.
“Participating in the show reminded me of home where I would do a show like this every year in my community,” said freshman Apoorva Sabnis. “Dancing keeps the traditions alive.”
Bhaskar said the main goal of the nearly 200-member ISA is to promote the continuity of Indian traditions.
“Our club is strong because we take pride in our traditions and our community. Our cultural shows are definitely a part of that commitment to our heritage,” he said. “I think Holi provided great entertainment to our community for the same price as a movie ticket. And I know our show was one hundred times better than any movie.”
