A festive atmosphere pervaded Oasis Orphanage in Hanamkonda here as children drenched themselves in a myriad colours during a herbal Holi celebration on Monday.
Organised by local NGO Sulakshya Seva Samithi as part of their objective of ‘spreading love and affection’, the party saw children letting down their hair and dancing to peppy songs. They particularly seemed to enjoy smearing each other with the smoke colour.
“We usually celebrate the festival with family members, colleagues and colony residents, but we thoroughly enjoy playing colours with the kids. We have been celebrating Holi with them for the past decade and it gives us immense satisfaction spending the day here. The kids have their breakfast a little earlier than usual and wait for us by the gate. The smile they flash on seeing our bagfuls of colours is priceless,” said Santhosh Manduva, founder president of Sulakshya Seva Samithi.
“I have celebrated Holi with hundreds of my friends in college, but being in the midst of children on the occasion gives me true happiness. Distributing colours to the kids is a tought but fun task as they corner us,” said Shashank Bharadwaj, an engineering student and a volunteer of the NGO.
Vishnu, an inmate of the orphanage, said, “Every year, we eagerly wait for the brothers, who we know will definitely come and celebrate Holi with us. We all have a great time together.”
Volunteers Kodam Vinay and Waseem Ryan and orphanage in-charge Oddiraj Chandraprakash took part in the celebrations.
