— President Ali tells gathering at Phagwah celebration at GCC ground

AFTER an absence of two years due to COVID-19, the annual ‘Holi Celebrations’ hosted by the Indian High Commission in Georgetown returned with an explosion of colours and love at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground (GCC) on Friday.

The event was attended by President Dr Irfaan Ali; First Lady, Arya Ali; Prime Minister Brigadier, (ret’d) Mark Phillips and several diplomats, including U.S. Ambassador Sarah Ann-Lynch; British High Commissioner, Jane Miller; EU Ambassador to Guyana, Fernando Ponz Cantó, China Ambassador, Guo Haiyan and CARICOM Secretary- General Carla Barnett, among others.

Several members of the Opposition were also present including General-Secretary of the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R), Geeta Chandan-Edmond.

Addressing the well-attended gathering with Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr KJ Srinivasa on stage, President Ali praised the festival and urged all to celebrate each other.

“If we can translate this beautiful nature of colour and create a world in which the colourful nature erase any over ambition of any singular colour, what we will achieve is enormous.” the President said, adding:  “The beauty of the festival is the colourful nature that it brings out when the fusion of the colours come together in joy and happiness, when the fusion of the colour embraces each other in peace and love. When the beautiful nature of the colour blends with each other to create a magnificent and beautiful cohort called humanity.”

During the celebration, the attendees were provided with a bountiful and wide array of coloured powder and water. They were delighted to meet with their colleagues and celebrate the festival with them. They were also treated to cultural songs and dances.

Holi or Phagwah is an ancient Hindu festival but in Guyana, it is celebrated by Hindus and non-Hindus alike.

Phagwah is also known as the Festival of Spring, the Festival of Colours or the Festival of Love. The festival celebrates the eternal and divine love of Radha and Krishna and also signifies the triumph of good over evil, as it celebrates the victory of Lord Vishnu as Narasimha Narayana over Hiranyakashipu.

President Ali noted that the message of good over evil which Phagwah signifies should remind all that they must be humble enough to understand that the true nature of life is in giving.

WORK HARD
“The religious significance of goodness over evil is a given. All of us must work hard every day to do a little bit better. When I say all of us, this includes myself. We are given the capacity to think, reason and analyse; we must use that capacity that is given to humans to be better, to do better,” he said.

Phagwah is celebrated with the showering of water, coloured powder and coloured liquid in a setting of happiness and unity among large gatherings; however, these celebrations were curtailed over the past two years due to measures implemented to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The measures included restrictions against social gathering.
However, this year the restrictions on social activities and gatherings among others were removed by the President.

The new regulations follow an increase in vaccination of citizens against COVID-19. During the past two years, thousands of persons contracted the virus in Guyana and hundreds have died.

“After more than two years we can understand how important life is and more importantly, how important cherishing moments in life is. It’s not about cherishing moments in our individual life, but more importantly cherishing moments of our country life, our community life and the life of our world as a whole,” Dr Ali noted.

The President also noted that the world is faced with many difficulties today, such as hunger, poverty, lack of water and war.

“As we celebrate we must spare a moment of good thought and silent prayer for these people, because we are all one family of humanity,” he said.

High Commissioner Dr Srinivasa noted that the holiday has become a symbol of India.

“It has become a festival of the nation and people eagerly await the festival for the enormous joy that it brings to them,” he said.