Conflicting festivities in the life of an immigrant
Is it either Christmas or Bihu?
As a kid, I used to ponder over the Hindu calendar and the number of events we celebrated every month. There were national festivals, state festivals, regional festivals, and numerous other religious festivals. No wonder India is known as the land of celebrations. As a kid, I pondered if as Indians we celebrated work or worked for a celebration. Why do we celebrate birthdays that too 194th/556th/250th birthdays of the ABC’s!
The celebrations of Durga Pooja, Bohag Bihu, and New Year were big events of my life growing up. I had almost three weeks of vacation for Durga Pooja, couldn’t stop waiting for Bohag Bihu to receive gifts (the eastern synonym for Christmas), and the new year being big with my parent’s office gatherings.
With the number of events that happened every year, my family toned down some of our celebrations to create minimal disruptions to our regular lives. Minimal disruption in our family’s case meant I and my brother were sent to school. For others, we altered the scale and intensity. Like for Kati Bihu (a mid-harvest Assamese festival); it was just a family affair of having a private dinner with a special evening feast. While for others like Vishwakarma Pooja (the day of the Hindu architect deity), a member of the family would just offer their prayers at a local pandal. And sometimes, I and my brother forcibly spared with the pretext of examinations around the corner.
That said, I can never ignore the privileges that come with these celebrations — good food, hanging out with friends, extra play/game time, dancing, music and often being pampered with gifts.
Living in a foreign country introduces you to a new set of festivities. Making you come up with your way of celebrating. You have the options of — either toning up or toning down your celebrations; and even merging what you celebrate to blend with the community around you. As an immigrant in America, I have filtered the celebrations — most of it depended on my group of friends or peers. I have often replaced Durga Pooja with Diwali in my Indian friend circle, and New Year with Christmas in my international friend circle.
My native — Bihu(Bohag, Kati & Magh) is yet to be replaced with any major festival. So, as a migrant, I just end up missing it and soaking in the celebrations that happen back home on WhatsApp.
The Blend
The 4th of July gains my empathy for the epitome of American patriotism. America turns to a happy land, you can see red and blue everywhere from supermarket lanes to every picnic table. Though it is hard for me to connect to American independence, for the past few years I have been here, the fireworks have been an inseparable part of my July 4th. While on August 15th (Indian independence day), I will mostly be at my desk being a corporate labor. I have adopted Thanksgiving and Christmas to complement the family gatherings during the eastern festivals, mostly because you have guaranteed holidays to celebrate with your friends. Over the past years, I will often spend these days with my closest friend mostly over a heartfelt supper. And there is Halloween and Easter, which doesn’t have a direct eastern comparison. But I will either carve pumpkins or buy a chocolate bunny from Target.
You try to adopt and adapt; but often comes the challenge of the authenticity of celebrations with culture you were born into and the cultures you try to adopt.
Any American will argue the 4th of July doesn’t mean fireworks and halloween doesn’t mean pumpkins. But, for folks who are trying to adopt this is their segue into a new culture/country.
Thanksgiving and Christmas cannot replace the eastern festivals that align with lunar/solar/Hindu calendars. But, the warmth of being close to people you love, who may not be the immediate family on these American holidays is a cultural adoption, and also a new way of celebrating the old festivities. So though immigrants might be sneered for sticking to the marketed traditions of buying a chocolate bunny from Target, its more sentiment than the success of a marketing plug.
Finally,
The memories associated with the festivities back home stay fresh in my mind. I will try to preserve and continue them for long as I can.
But, as an immigrant who is an ever-growing individual my perception of celebrations and festivities are changing. I am more focused on creating better memories on a festive day than following conventions of celebrating — might it be Christmas or Bihu.
Coming from the land of celebrations, I didn’t need to add more festivals to my yearly roster. But, I am an immigrant, and I recognize that I hold great power to bring fundamental changes to how societal customs are framed, reframed, and preserved.
