HCM CITY — The Indian community in HCM City got together at Pasteur Street's Sedona Suite on Saturday to celebrate Holi, the festival of colours.
They sang, danced, played jokes, pushed people into pools of water, and rubbed colour powder all over others.
"The festival is purely for fun," Keshav Dayalani, a lecturer at the city-based Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, said.
"Back in India the festival is a chance for us to celebrate the end of winter when we hardly go out."
"So we usually have as much fun as possible during the festival," he said, adding that during the one day or multi-day event – depending on the Indian state – people forget their animosity and renew friendships. Smearing colours is the highlight of the festival, and is believed to bring happiness and a life full of colour for the rest of the year. Those who are smeared thank the smearers.
"We celebrate the festival every year in the city," said Dayalani, who is also vice chairman of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, which organises the event.
Hoang Hai Ha, a second-year student of Indian Studies at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said she was having huge fun though her clothes were completely smeared in colour.
"Festivals like this are not found in Vietnamese culture; so I really enjoy it," she said. — VNS