So much has changed in the last year and this blog and all you readers have helped create that change.
I started writing here because I felt rejected and kept out of the religion that my heart was at home with. I felt that I would never fit in.
Since then I have found a lot of acceptance and my relationship with my religion and its culture has changed. I've felt welcomed by many of the Indians in my life this year. I've felt at home and like I fit in at temples and holidays and events.
As a result, I've felt less need to fight against the culture around me. I haven't felt that I need the bindi, which I used to use to set myself apart and help me stand out from the default American culture.
The most noticeable effect has been Christmas. Last year I had a very hard time with Christmas. The whole month of December I felt out of place, out of sorts, out of sync. I was sensitive and easily offended. This year Christmas has not bothered me. It's just one more thing going on around me. It's fun, lots of people like it, it's not hurting me.
Without the acceptance into the culture I feel I belong in, I would not be able to have steady emotions in December.
I've embraced and acknowledged my inner feelings about culture and belonging and I've come to a place where I am secure and confident in my life. I don't feel as much like I have something to prove. This is a nice place to be!
nice thoughts.
ReplyDeleteyou possibly have a good point.
- basu
The more you become close to Indian culture ,the less you will resent American culture.I think its true. Culture belogs to ppl who follow it .That makes you a hindu.
ReplyDeleteEla is right.
ReplyDeleteAm so glad to hear that you feel this year has accomplished a lot. Have enjoyed witnessing it.
ReplyDeleteKat
Ela, you are right. I have seen that the closer I get to Indian culture the less resistance I have to American culture.
ReplyDeleteIn Dubai many Hindus I know are very proud and active Hindus but have been affected by the dominance of US global hegemony on culture and so do Valentines and keep Christmas trees (they don't do any Christian rituals, but they like the decor). I know Hindu fundamentalists in India are against this and it IS destructive to indigenous Indian Hindu cultures, but then again Indian cultures have always changed and adapted due to intersections with various invaders and settlers and occupiers…the Valentines and Christmas stuff is the modern manifestation of that.
ReplyDeleteIs your family religious and how do you deal with Christmas on a personal level with the way your family is celebrating?
Will you eat Chinese food on Christmas :-)?
"Will you eat Chinese food on Christmas :-)? "
ReplyDeleteI think only Jewish people go to Chinese restaurants on Christmas day.
Hindus go to Indian Restaurants on Christmas day.
LOL :)
luckyfatima,
About the comment you made about fundamentalist Hindus. Yeah..there are few of those. But there are also many of us who are pissed off at Indian "secularists" leftists. I for one am a Beef eating, non temple going Hindu. I have moved closer and closer to conservative Hindus away from the "Secularists" in India because the left "Secularists" have become totally anti Hindus. They collude with evangelicals to convert the whole of India into fundamentalist evangelicals etc. Even during the Mumbai Massacre, these left congressies came out and said, the Mumbai Massacre was the work of Hindu fundamentalist etc. They have lost it completely. Just FYI.
;)
Manny
@Aamba: Congrats on the anniversary. Hope you have found your experience enriching.
ReplyDelete@Machu: I kinda agree with you. Actually, I respect true secularists/atheists - those who feel religious belief should not form the basis of any public policy. Given that any religion is unprovable in a scientific way, it seems to me that it is only fair that a society adopts some sort of polytheism (since no one way is provably right/wrong, maybe there is some truth in all ways) or an eclectic mix of atheism/agnosticism. The thing I hate about "leftists" in India is that they proclaim to cling onto Marxist ideals some of which (Organized religion is the opiate of the masses) I agree with. Yet, in their hatred of Hinduism they tend to side with my-way-or-the-highway-type Muslims/Christians. In Islam, apostasy (Marxism/Communism certainly qualifies as apostasy since these ideologies reject all notions of God INCLUDING ALLAH) is punishable by death. Yet the Marxists/Leftists in India bend over backward to appease them. The number 1 threat for Marxists/Leftists is Islam, which calls for their death and not Hinduism which is a huge umbrella in which there is room for different belief systems. I guess it is common hatred of Hinduism that brings these two disparate groups together.
Well done you, enjoy the holidays x
ReplyDeleteMachu, Kal,
ReplyDeletethe northeast insurgency is supported by the baptist church, almost all 'tribals' have been successfully converted in the seven states, millions are poured in the name of saving souls and thus spreading hatred. The politicians and media alike have been shielding the facts, wrapped up under the layers of misinformation. Its a life under fear for miniscule number of hindus and buddhists there. Thankfully, Bhutan declared its state a buddhist land as opposed to a secular one, otherwise the flood of dollars and dirhams would flush their religion out of existence in a matter of a decade or so. Nepal is in 'clear and present' danger now.surya
I don't want to get too involved in the politics. I have spoken before about my belief that Hinduism will survive whatever attacks are on it, it will always continue on, the Eternal Truth.
ReplyDeleteI do value the separation of church and state, as it is known in America. Having government distinct and separate from religion and technically not allowed to support or promote religion, is a really nice thing! Then people are free to choose how to practice and whether they want to practice.
I do go to celebrate Christmas with my extended family who are Christian. I have never had a conversation with them about my religion. I'll do a post after Christmas to let you know how it goes!
Thank you, Aamba, for staying clear of politics and concentrating on the Dharma.Enjoy your time with your family.
ReplyDelete@Surya...
ReplyDeleteI dont think this is a place for politics and I was not going to post this but todays events have forced me to.I got a visit today by a very fair lady and a kid, they were collecting money for their "camp". On further inquiry i discovered that they were kashmiri hindus. They were driven out of their ancestral homes by radicals from the vally. Imagine being a refugee in your own country!!!
The recent comments by the prince of congress seem no better. while hinduism may flourish in the west but with the left closing in and congress playing dirty , dire circumstances lie ahead in India.
No religion is free from people doing terrible things in its name. Such a strange phenomenon, and yet I can't think of any religion that has not been used as an excuse for violence and hatred at some point.
ReplyDelete