Paras Ra­moutar

Trinidad and To­ba­go will ex­pe­ri­ence a ri­ot of colours as Hin­dus cel­e­brate the fes­ti­val of phag­wa (Holi) to­day. The Sanatan Dhar­ma Ma­ha Sab­ha (SDMS), led by Sat­narayan Ma­haraj, sec­re­tary gen­er­al, feels that the cel­e­bra­tion of Holi is an in­te­gral part in the prop­a­ga­tion of In­di­an cul­ture. The Ma­hat­ma Gand­hi Cul­tur­al Cen­tre at Ca­roni un­der the aegis of In­di­an High Com­mis­sion­er Shri Malay Mishra will host its an­nu­al phag­wa cel­e­bra­tions at Ca­roni. High­lights of the pre­sen­ta­tion will be per­for­mances by a ten-mem­ber dance group from In­dia.

For the past week, sev­er­al groups and mandirs held their cel­e­bra­tions lead­ing to to­day's grand fi­nale. Sev­er­al Hin­du or­gan­i­sa­tions, in­clud­ing the SDMS, the Na­tion­al Phag­wa Coun­cil, Swa­ha and scores of in­di­vid­ual groups and tem­ples will take part in the cel­e­bra­tions. Thou­sands of dol­lars, tro­phies and gifts are at stake for the hun­dreds of bands of chow­tal singers, dancers, tas­sa dru mers in the var­i­ous com­pe­ti­tions. It was pro­ject­ed that this year's cel­e­bra­tion will set a bench­mark for suc­ceed­ing ones.

Kam­la to ad­dress chil­dren

The new­ly in­stalled Leader of the Op­po­si­tion, Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar will at­tend the Chil­dren's Phag­wa cel­e­bra­tion to­day at the Tu­na­puna Hin­du School at the cor­ner of Pasea Main Road and the Churchill-Roo­sevelt High­way. The pro­gramme starts at 9 am. Per­sad-Bisses­sar will de­liv­er the fea­ture ad­dress to hun­dreds of chil­dren com­ing from 60 schools across the coun­try.