The colour of Holi seeps in... For Manoj Chaudhari
by Ranju Khurana
Holi - The Festival of Colors. "What better way than Holi to bring color to children’s' lives was my initial thought (figuratively speaking), which led to our Holi event to be associated with the Sunshine Society. After I moved to US almost 22 years ago, we did not celebrate Holi for a very long time, even though we live in a heavily Indian-populated area. As the kids grew, just to make them aware of our culture, we started with a small holi celebration in my backyard. Then Vaishali, my very dear college friend, told me about Sunshine Society she started, and I started to look for funds for Sunshine everywhere. It was Holi around the same time, and an idea clicked, so I shared my Holi Fund Raising Idea with my husband and a friend here (another Vaishali) and they agreed. Then few of my other friends joined in the plan and now here we are, in our third year of this event. Around Holi time, it's still winter in the New Jersey area of the United States and the weather is unpredictable, but mother nature has been very good to us almost every time.
This year rain was predicted and our event was supposed to start at 2 PM, but the temperature was still decent. Guess what? It started raining at 2 PM on the dot. We were a bit apprehensive at first, but the rain stopped around 2:45 (didn't I just say that mother nature is always good to us?), and everything went well after that. 2 days before the event, we had been preparing many treats such as cookies, brownies, mango kalakand, samosas and of course chai. Another friend of mine always arranges for a professional music system for the event. Therefore we were able to play some traditional Holi music to get everyone in the spirit. We provided the color as well (no water colors because of the weather). The children and the adults were totally in the spirit of Holi and fundraising, and everyone enjoyed. I gave a short informational talk on what Sunshine does and how people here can support the cause. Then we had a fun round of Antakshari. Crowd was little bit less because of the weather but we still had loads of entertainment. We ask people to donate for the cause (although a donation is never required). Some friends mailed checks even though they could not come. The event is fun and frolic and a way to give back.
The colour of Holi has taken such a hold that now we all look forward to organizing this event every year. We also feel extremely satisfied after this experience. We want to do a lot of things for Sunshine, but I guess every journey starts with a small step, and this is our baby step toward a big sprint in the future. Thanks to our volunteers Vaishali, Vasavi, Shruti, Deepa, Preethi, Shalini, Kirti, Niharika, Anitha, Rama, Ruby , all kid volunteers and everyone else who come to support our event every year.
This year, we plan to donate the money in memory of our dear friend Manoj Chaudhari to celebrate the wonderful life he had.
This year rain was predicted and our event was supposed to start at 2 PM, but the temperature was still decent. Guess what? It started raining at 2 PM on the dot. We were a bit apprehensive at first, but the rain stopped around 2:45 (didn't I just say that mother nature is always good to us?), and everything went well after that. 2 days before the event, we had been preparing many treats such as cookies, brownies, mango kalakand, samosas and of course chai. Another friend of mine always arranges for a professional music system for the event. Therefore we were able to play some traditional Holi music to get everyone in the spirit. We provided the color as well (no water colors because of the weather). The children and the adults were totally in the spirit of Holi and fundraising, and everyone enjoyed. I gave a short informational talk on what Sunshine does and how people here can support the cause. Then we had a fun round of Antakshari. Crowd was little bit less because of the weather but we still had loads of entertainment. We ask people to donate for the cause (although a donation is never required). Some friends mailed checks even though they could not come. The event is fun and frolic and a way to give back.
The colour of Holi has taken such a hold that now we all look forward to organizing this event every year. We also feel extremely satisfied after this experience. We want to do a lot of things for Sunshine, but I guess every journey starts with a small step, and this is our baby step toward a big sprint in the future. Thanks to our volunteers Vaishali, Vasavi, Shruti, Deepa, Preethi, Shalini, Kirti, Niharika, Anitha, Rama, Ruby , all kid volunteers and everyone else who come to support our event every year.
This year, we plan to donate the money in memory of our dear friend Manoj Chaudhari to celebrate the wonderful life he had.
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