by Rivkela Brodsky
Daily Lobo
They all started out clean.
Thirty minutes later, about 40 to 50 people at Lower Johnson Field were wet and covered in combinations of green, yellow, blue and pink.
Cheerful screams came from the field as people ran around throwing powder colors on one another and squirting each other with water.
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Srikant Mokkapati came up from behind Tosifa Memon and covered her face with pink powder.
After a quick wash with a hose, Memon returned to get green powder all over Mokkapati's face.
It's called Holi, the festival of colors, and it's the second biggest celebration in India. The festival celebrates the start of spring. In India, people of all ages and classes will cover each other in powdered colors.
Saikrishna Mallipeddi, a graduate student, said fragrant water is used in India, and people get crazy with water and colors.
He said the celebration is tied to the spring season and to mythology.
The India Students Association has organized the event for the past three or four years, said Japji Hundal, president of the group.
He said it's the biggest event the group organizes.
The event is not only reserved for Indian students at UNM, but for anyone interested, he said.
Pavan Pusarla, vice president of the group, said the traditional colors of the festival are red, which symbolizes purity; saffron, which symbolizes India; green, which symbolizes fertilization; and white, which symbolizes peace.
There were more colors than that at the UNM celebration.
"That's what you start off with," Hundal said, "but by the end you get all mixed up."
The powder colors are mixed with water. Participants went around placing colored handprints on people's T-shirts, arms and faces, saying, "Happy Holi."
It was Petra Salazar's first time at the event. She brought her dog, whose fur showed evidence it was attacked by pink.
"I've never done this before. It's awesome," she said. "It's better than searching for Easter eggs."
Hundal said about 70 people attended the event, down from last year's attendance of 200.
He said that's because the event was held on Easter Sunday.
Amitabh Trehan, former president of the group, said many dorm residents joined the celebration last year.
Dorielle Paull attended the event for the first time Sunday.
"It's not your typical American holiday," she said. "There's no constraints. You just walk up to people and use color powder."
There was also music, Indian food and other games, including a traditional game called kabbadi.
"I didn't know what to expect, but by the end of the day I was covered in color," Paull said.
The event was co-sponsored by ASUNM's Student Special Events.
