Hinduism's Diwali, Once Hidden, Now Lit Large
THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Swati Khurana
When my 3-year-old daughter told me that she needed something special for Share Day at camp — a sari and a candle dish used for Diwali, the Hindu New Year — I felt surprised and thrilled, and maybe even a little envious. Her pleasure in wearing Indian clothes and celebrating holidays as a young child is very different from what I experienced in my own childhood. Now, this Diwali, I am heartened by how my daughter embraces her Indian-American heritage and by how different my daughter’s America is from mine. In her preschool, there is room for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid and Diwali — which sounds like an America where there is room for us. [link]
By Swati Khurana
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| Mithai from Usha Foods surround the Hindu god Ganesha. |
When my 3-year-old daughter told me that she needed something special for Share Day at camp — a sari and a candle dish used for Diwali, the Hindu New Year — I felt surprised and thrilled, and maybe even a little envious. Her pleasure in wearing Indian clothes and celebrating holidays as a young child is very different from what I experienced in my own childhood. Now, this Diwali, I am heartened by how my daughter embraces her Indian-American heritage and by how different my daughter’s America is from mine. In her preschool, there is room for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid and Diwali — which sounds like an America where there is room for us. [link]