Colours Across Continents: Holi at Siloso Beach
This blog was co-authored by the following MIM'27 students: Ronak Gupta & Palaash Mankodi
Holi for MIM‘27 began long before the colours hit the beach. The morning kicked off the traditional way, with glasses of chilled Thandai, a saffron-flavoured delicacy, at the Icon Livin' house on Mount Sinai. For many of us, it felt a little surreal to celebrate a festival so deeply rooted in our home while being thousands of miles away in a new country. But if anything, that only added to the excitement. New place, new people, same chaotic spirit of Holi.
Our journey onwards to Sentosa was a nostalgic one as 11 of us squeezed our way into a mini-van much like how we had school picnics back home. The friendly fire of colours started right at the get-go at Siloso Beach. The moment colour packets appeared, any sense of restraint disappeared with them. Within seconds, faces, especially those of our international friends experiencing Holi for the first time, became canvases. Nobody really had time to prepare. The colours were already in the air.
Bollywood music quickly took over the soundscape. There is something about Holi that makes dancing inevitable, even for those who claim they do not dance. One moment you are standing with a drink, the next you are in the middle of a circle trying to match someone’s moves.
At one point, Navneeth and Aayush had everyone’s attention with an energetic dance that had the whole group cheering. Then Akshar decided that was far too peaceful and smashed colour straight into their faces. But honestly, that interruption felt perfectly on brand. If Holi teaches you anything, it is that order is temporary, and colour is inevitable.
The celebrations soon escalated into the more authentic elements of Holi. Wrestling friends to the ground and making sure they were properly coloured became a team sport, all done in ‘good faith.’
Thankfully, the water cannon occasionally fired a barrage of water that helped us survive the weather. Between the sun, the sea breeze, and clouds of colour drifting across the beach, it felt like the festival had found a new home at Siloso.
What made the day special was the international flavour of it all. For many of our classmates, this was their very first Holi.
And like most INSEAD experiences, it quickly turned into something shared, a cultural moment that everyone jumped into, quite literally, colours first.
Of course, Holi does not really end when the music stops. The Siloso sand granules decided to follow us home as souvenirs, stubbornly embedded in places we did not even know existed. Removing the colours took about a sixty-minute shower, five rounds of determined scrubbing, and still a lingering suspicion that some pink might stay with us for a few more days.
But that is part of the charm. Holi is never meant to be neat.
Looking back, this day was a perfect microcosm of what makes the INSEAD MIM so special. The programme does more than just prepare us for a career; it builds a global family that celebrates every milestone together.
By encouraging us to share our heritage, the MIM ensures that our education is as much about cultural empathy as it is about business strategy.
Somewhere between the Thandai at the Icon Livin’ house and the final scrub of pink paint, we realised that the MIM has given us a community where we can be our most authentic selves, no matter how many thousands of miles we are from home.
Yours,
Ronak & Palaash
