Warren fetes Hindi Holi Festival
By JARED KALTWASSER
STAFF WRITER
WARREN — The township library held its
first-ever Hindi Holi Festival Saturday afternoon, inviting patrons to
check out the rich and colorful history of India.
Hindi
USA, an organization that promotes Indian culture and language in the
United States, presented the program. Hindi is an official language of
India.
Ajay Kuamr, a member of Hindi USA, said the Holi Festival is an annual celebration of joy.
"It's
a festival of happiness and livelihood," Kumar said. "It's celebrated
all over India. It's celebrated wherever Indians are."
The festival happens on a set day each year according to the Indian calendar, Kumar said. The library celebrated it early this year so the event could take place on a Saturday.
Suni
Minorics, public relations assistant at the library, said this is the
second cultural event at the library this year. Last month, the library
hosted a Chinese New Year celebration. She said such non-traditional
library events are becoming popular.
"This is by far one of the noisiest events, and it's popularity shows by the attendance," she said.
Around
70 people were registered to attend Saturday's celebration. The
three-hour event included traditional Indian food and dancing. A
lecture on the history of India by keynote speaker Kishin Kripalani, an
Indian wedding re-enactment, and displays of other Indian art and
cultural activities.
Meena Rathee, a Hindi USA member from Cream Bridge, told about the Hindu artifacts on display Saturday.
"Every home has a temple in it, and we burn incense," she said.
Most
of the women in attendance had elaborate symbols drawn of brown paint
on their right hands. Rathee explained that the paint is called Henna.
"It's a temporary tattoo, made from a plant," she said.
Once the brown paint dries, it falls off to reveal an brownish-orange design on the skin.
Spenser and Arlene Huston of Warren were at Saturday's event and also at the Chinese New Year celebration in February.
"I've
always been interested in peoples of other countries," Arlene Huston
said, "And as our children were growing up we hosted 21 children from
12 different countries (through a foreign exchange program)."
Spenser
Huston said he never realized that Indian history went back 5,000
years. The Hustons brought their granddaughter to the event.
"She seems to be enjoying the Henna painting," he said.
Minorics
said she could tell by the phone numbers of event registrants that a
number of people from outside of the township were in attendance. Among
them was Mahalakshmi Seshadri of Bridgewater.
"I just live in Bridgewater, so I do look into library programs," she said. Seshadri brought her son and daughter with her.
"This is our first time here, so the kids get to see about the Holi Festival," she said.
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