A look at how Indian festivals are being transformed in America

[Guest guest]

Made in India, Remade in America

A look at how Indian festivals are being transformed in America

Little India

http://www.littleindia.com/

 

Lavina Melwani

Nov 02, 2007

 

Durga Puja on the [Washington, D.C.] beltway?

Diwali in a Phoenix [Arizona] community center?

Ras Garba in a New York school auditorium?

A spectacular burning of Ravana in a public park in

New Jersey?

 

Yes, and why not?

 

All these Indian festivals are slowly inching their way to

becoming American celebrations, a part of the country's red,

white and blue tapestry.

 

Even that most commercial and true-blue icon of America - the

NASDAQ - has recognized Diwali with blazing lights in Times

Square.

 

Years earlier the Empire State Building had already taken note

of Diwali with special saffron, green and white lighting on the

apex of America's most famous icon.

 

Last year, New York City officially recognized Diwali by

granting it the most coveted gift in the city - suspension of

alternate side parking rules for the festival in traffic congested

Manhattan.

 

And when the Diwali Mela takes place at South Street Seaport,

it is duly noted on the calendar of the New York tourism

website.

 

All these events are purely American - not something you would

see on Diwali in India. Mere beginnings, but they are having an

impact on the larger perceptions of Indians and their culture.

 

Diwali, the most important festival for Hindus, is celebrated

throughout the Hindu world including Fiji, Guyana and Trinidad.

In addition to the spiritual significance the day holds for Hindus,

Sikhs celebrate Diwali in celebration of the release of the Sixth

Guru, Hargobind, from captivity by the Mughal Emperor

Jehangir, and Jains commemorate Diwali as the day Lord

Mahavira, the last of the Tirthankaras, attained Nirvana, or

liberation, after his death in 527 BCE.

 

There are an estimated two million Hindus in the United States.

" Growing up in the United States, we see different festivals of

various traditions being honored and celebrated and

acknowledged by the American community, which is very open

to this because America has always welcomed people of

different nationalities, " says Ishani Choudhury, Director of the

Hindu American Foundation.

 

" Just as Rosh Hashanah, Ramadan and Kwanza are being

honored, it's important that Hindu Americans whose children are

growing up should know that their faith is also honored and

acknowledged in the way these other faiths are. It's important on

a higher level, because it helps you to maintain a bond that you

have to your home state and country. "

 

HAF has made public recognition of Diwali a major focus of its

work. " We firmly believe that as our traditions and our holy

festivals become a celebrated part of the fabric of mainstream

American life, we as a community take another giant step

towards fulfilling both our Hindu and American identities. "

 

In August Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. John Cornyn

(R-TX) introduced Senate Resolution 299, to recognize " the

religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali. " A

parallel House Resolution 747 sponsored by Rep. Joe Wilson

(R-SC) and Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) was approved by

the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Represntative

by a unanimous vote.

 

But already Diwali is celebrated in New York's City Hall with a

reception and also with a celebration at the White House.

 

Diwali, a word few Americans would know how to pronounce,

is slowly infiltrating into the public consciousness. Last year " The

Office " sitcom featured a Diwali office party, mainstream media

has begun writing about it, and this year National Geographic

issued a children's book Celebrate Diwali with Sweets, Lights

and Fireworks by Deborah Heiligman, along with another on the

festival of Id. Heiligman worked with Hinduism authority

Vasudha Narayanan, professor of religion and director of the

Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions at Florida University, to

relate the story of Diwali traditions and customs.

 

[images in the book] Diwali celebrations in the Diaspora capture

[Diwali's] diversity - Latoya Khoza, a dance student in Durban,

South Africa prepares for a classical Indian dance during Diwali

in one image in the book. Another image shows a girl dressed in

Diwali finery on Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean. Yet

another captures the celebrations in Kathmandu, Nepal.

 

Perhaps the image which conveys Diwali's all-pervasive nature is

a photograph of young girls floating diyas and flowers on the

Yamuna River in Agra, with the Taj Mahal, an Islamic

monument, reflected in the waters.

 

Indian Americans have to improvise on the fireworks. Some buy

sparklers and fireworks during Fourth of July and hoard them for

Diwali.

 

The most common way Americans are exposed to Diwali is

through Indian Americans - friends, family doctors and even

relatives. From New York to California, Indians are sharing their

food, dances and festivals with mainstream Americans.

 

Last year, the Newark Museum of Art held an India festival,

with henna painting, dancing and music.

 

Phoenix, Ariz., holds a Discover India event, reminiscent of

Diwali melas, which are such an integral part of the holiday

season in India. Sarbari Chowdhury, president of the Indian

Association, says the festival in Phoenix has tripled its audience

from some 1,000 visitors to almost 3500: " We wanted to step

out of the boundary of just the Indian community and make it a

showcase for all of Phoenix with our dances, music and food. "

 

Phoenix's different Indian communities celebrate Diwali with

private parties and regional festivities. The Bengali community

celebrates Durga Puja on a grand scale. Bengalis have a ritual of

lighting 14 diyas on every entrance and doorway and preparing a

special Diwali dish from 14 different leafy vegetables. In

America the traditions get an interesting American twist.

 

" In Calcutta we used to get prepared bunches of 14 leafy

vegetables, ready to cook, from the market. When you go to the

supermarkets here, it's sometimes hard to get 14 different leafy

vegetables and we sometimes have to mix up celery and lettuce

and mint. Here we have to improvise. "

 

She recalls that in Calcutta her family would build a Diwali ghar,

a house of mud and clay, in the back garden lit up with diyas and

decorated with dolls. " Here all this is not possible, but when my

children were very small, I would use play dough to make the

house for them, and get earthen flower pots from Home Depot

and set them up with tea lights. "

 

The festivals also have to adapt to the American environment:

large scale celebrations have to be held off till the weekend, no

matter which day Diwali falls on.

 

Phoenix may be a long way from Kolkatta, but the Bengali

community holds special Durga puja celebrations, spread over

two days -still truncated from the week long celebrations in

India. The Diwali festivities have also ballooned since Phoenix

now has about six temples in the vicinity.

 

In New Jersey preparations for Navratri are in full swing, as they

are in Fremont, Calif., and in every enclave with a major Gujarati

population. Ras Garba which is such an intricate part of this

festival has been gaining in popularity with other Indian

communities - thanks to Bollywood films where top stars show

their skills with dandias. Now even Americans are getting the

hang of these wooden sticks as they party with Indian friends or

as guests at desi weddings. A telling point about American

diversity is that you get to see an unbelievable mix as cultures

collide and often embrace. At weddings you see blondes in

evening dresses clicking the sticks and moving to the music of

the dhol with Indians in wedding finery.

 

The Navratri Garba 2007 bash, celebrating devis and devtas, is

being held on two full dhol music laden Saturdays in Fremont,

Calif., - in the Holy Spirit Church! The setting does not seem at

all incongruous to the participants who are looking forward to

dancing to the beat of Rhythm Master Dimple Patel and Group.

 

Slowly but surely Indian festivals are transforming and becoming

a part of the mosaic of America. Just as Christmas is celebrated

by many Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, Diwali and Navratri may one

day be celebrated as yet another festival by the mainstream,

becoming one more American festival to be enjoyed by all. Who

knows, in true American fashion, one day perhaps there will also

be a Bloomingdale's Diwali sale or even a Macy's Diwali

Parade!

 

http://www.littleindia.com/news/134/ARTICLE/1921/2007-11-02.html

[Guest guest]

It is nice to see that the East is gradually not becoming a mystery feared by

the West, but becoming more and more welcomed. I have heard some people

complain about it being " just a trend " , but to others, especially some of the

religions originated in the East, it is far, far more than that. In a way, I

wished my grandma would have introduced the family to more Buddhist customs, but

she more or less shunned a religion worshiped by some of her relatives and by

her ancestors because she got trained into thinking it a false religion in place

of a different religion.

 

 

 

Jai Ma!

 

 

Sincerely,

Christina H.

 

---- msbauju <msbauju wrote:

> Made in India, Remade in America

> A look at how Indian festivals are being transformed in America

> Little India

> http://www.littleindia.com/

>

> > http://www.littleindia.com/news/134/ARTICLE/1921/2007-11-02.html

>

>