Students gathered in the back field with bright streaks of color on their clothes March 23 after throwing powder into the air and onto one another. This festivity signifies one thing: spring has come. 

Holi, an esteemed Hindu holiday known as the Festival of Color, is celebrated the day after the full moon in the month of Phalguna to mark the commencement of spring. This year, the holiday fell on March 8. The celebration starts with a bonfire the night before Holi to represent the burning of all things evil and the victory of good over bad. The next day, people unite in the streets and overcome past resentments as they play with vibrant colors that carry various meanings, such as love and emotions. 

Senior Meera Mahidhara and sixth grader Samaira Modgil led presentations teaching the Archer community about the holiday, and they later collaborated with Dean of Student Life, Equity and Inclusion Samantha Hazell-O’Brien to organize a schoolwide Holi celebration for the first time. These event coordinators invited the entire Archer community to join the festivities on the back field, where students dressed in white clothes and splashed each other with colored powder to welcome in spring. 

“Holi is a way to let go of any worries you have, just have fun and throw with your friends, your family or whomever,” Mahidhara said. “Especially now, as I’m a senior, and I’m leaving [high school] soon. Life is stressful. It’s really nice to find a piece of my identity and blend it in with my everyday life.”

Since she was a child, Mahidhara has celebrated Holi with her family by going to the beach and throwing around colored powder. She said seeing everyone’s smiles on their faces is her favorite part of the holiday, as well as all the vibrant colors.

“Holi is the festival of spring, so we wear light colored, old clothes to signify winter,” Mahidhara said. “When we throw color on each other, we’re bringing in the new year.”

Hazell-O’Brien said that hosting cultural events at Archer not only provides a sense of pride and empowerment for the students leading the event, but provides others a newfound awakening. 

“You’d see people running around with cups of color, the color just bursting in the air and people screaming in the best way possible,” Hazell-O’Brien said. “It was just full of smiles, full of laughter. It was a wonderful time.”

Celebrating Holi for the first time, sophomore Julianna Hatton said the field erupted with huge clouds of color and rainbows, and described the scene as “beautiful.” Hatton later reflected on the importance and beauty of commemorating other cultures.

“It’s really special to be a part of other people’s celebrations and learn the different traditions that each person has with their family or with their culture,” Hatton said. “It’s also really fun to learn and try new things.” 

For the student leaders, the event shared and highlighted their culture in a way that is oftentimes overlooked.

“My main goal was to showcase an important aspect of my identity,” Mahidhara said. “Archer is very multicultural, and so I wanted to bring a little bit of India to everyone here in L.A.”

Hazell-O’Brien said she aims to foster a culture of awareness and appreciation at Archer. 

“The more we learn about our differences, the more we can see that those differences actually shared commonalities. Whether your New Year starts on Jan. 1 or March 20, we can look at each other and say, ‘Oh okay, you do it differently, but we both share that,’” Hazell-O’Brien said. “That’s what I really hope will come into our culture — that no matter what the differences are, we can appreciate them and allow them to bring us together.”