DESIAMERICA: A Holi Day in NYC

The photos you see above could be from any Holi celebration in India, but aren't. They were taken today in Manhattan, at a Holi party hosted by Sanskriti, a cultural organization and dance training school in NYC. I went with my family and had a great time, throwing colors ("Kriti Organic Gulal," 40 rupees a packet, the fourth photo says) and generally enjoying the mess we created. Last year, I got to spend Holi with my Columbia Journalism students in Vrindavan and Mathura, the part of India where they play Holi with more vigor and rowdiness than almost anywhere else. I was afraid our New York Holi would be tamer this year, but today's festivities fixed that.

Do you have photos of Holi celebrations outside India this year? Send it along to saja[at]columbia.edu

Update: Some photos of Holi in Nepal and Pakistan via UltraBrown. And some great photos of the 2004 Phagwah (the Indo-Caribbean equivalent of Holi) celebrations in Richmond Hill, Queens, NYC here. They are from Preston Merchant, who writes via e-mail:

In the years following, the city threatened to cancel the parade fearing that someone could introduce anthrax into the Johnson's Baby Powder (the city did not say why someone capable of producing weaponized anthrax by the bucketful would want to kill a bunch of Guyanese).  Richmond Hill community leaders protested, and a compromise was reached: people marching in the parade could douse each other but not the spectators along the route.  I don't know how things went this year.

Send your non-India Holi photos via e-mail to saja[at]columbia.edu and your comments in the, well, comments section below.