Community Conversations
IAGB asked the community: “Share a tradition that you follow to celebrate your favorite festival” – and the community poured their hearts out!
Anuja Das
The autumn season, spanning October and November, is such a special time of the year bringing people from diverse cultural backgrounds together in celebration. The convergence of Rosh Hashanah, Chinese Moon festival, Durga Puja, Golus, Navratri, Halloween, Dussehra and Diwali creates a vibrant atmosphere of joy, reflection, and new beginnings and is my favorite collective festival. My favorite tradition is simply to get completely immersed in each of the festivals our friends help us celebrate specific to their culture. Despite their differences, these celebrations share common values and themes that encourage us to introspect, set goals, and look forward to the future. The spirit of togetherness, gratitude, and hope that permeates this time of the year is truly uplifting and a perfect way to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one.
Julie Chatterjee Khanna
Traditions are what keep us bonded and bring beauty to our life. In our daily hustle, we barely get a chance to stop breathing and take in the beauty of life. Our traditions allow us to take a pause switch off from the daily hustle and focus on what is important … friends family laughter and love. Being a Bengali, my most beloved tradition has been to get deeply involved with Durga Puja, from decorating the pandals, to drawing “Alpona” (Bengali Rangoli) to making garlands has always been an enticing beckon. Not to mention, dress up in fineries for the 5 days of the festivities.
However after marrying a Punjabi man, I got a beautiful insight to his tradition in doing Laxmi puja on Diwali day. While us Bengalis decorate pandals and stay out all day, my Punjabi side of the family does exactly the opposite. On Diwali, the focus is to deep clean the house and decorate it; do an aarti at home and not leave the house till the diyas burn out. We stay indoors dressed in fineries putting our best foot forward both in terms of self and our hearth. I have come to love this tradition and look forward to watching my husband do Diwali shopping for decking up his “mandir” (temple) at home.
To sum up, respecting each other’s traditions and enjoying it keeps the national integration at home alive 😊
Monalisa Chakraborty Patel
Diwali is the biggest festival in Mumbai. I am from Mumbai, and I like to follow the tradition here from home away home in USA. Diwali is the festival of lights – so I decorate my house with lights, traditional diyas and candles, and also make colorful rangoli in my home. On this auspicious occasion, I gather my family members and friends to get together at my home and celebrate Diwali.
Moumita Banerjee
In West Bengal, Diwali, pronounced as “Dipaboli” is celebrated uniquely with deep cultural and spiritual significance, blending Hindu traditions with regional customs. Diwali is associated with the worship of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, in many parts of India. However, in Bengal, Diwali coincides with Kali Puja, dedicated to the mighty Goddess Kali, the fierce form of the Divine Mother known for her powerful and protective nature. Being Bengali, I celebrate Diwali here in the USA by:
- performing Kali Puja-decorating idol of Maa Kali, worshiping, and offering rice, sweets, fruits etc.
- lighting and decoration-decorate our house with light, Diya, and Alpana, traditional form of Bengali rangoli, where intricate patterns are created on the floors with rice paste, symbolizing auspiciousness, and welcoming blessings.
- Finally, Diwali is not complete without lighting up firecrackers. The vibrant, colorful displays are seen as a way to celebrate and symbolize the triumph of light over darkness. As a Bengali, I prepare a variety of sweets such as sondesh, rossogolla, and payesh, along with savory snacks. Food is an integral part of our Bengali celebration, shared with family and friends to strengthen bonds.
Shital Bhammer
One tradition that we follow every year is to participate in Annakut at mandir on New Years Day. We also decorate our house every year for diwali and perform Laxmi Pujan with the whole family.
Saswati (Lima) Das
Diwali is always special for our family. My child and I are very fond of this festival. We buy an auspicious item on Dhanteras. We do the typical bits of new dresses, visiting the temple, lighting sparklers, making a feast, putting a grand kolam, placing diyas around the house. This is the only day we light lamp for our ancestors (for their “mukti”/ freedom from all “Sanchita karma”/cumulative doings in the South direction outside of the house, preferably in diyas made with wheat flour or rice flour or in earthen lamps. Some keep thirteen lamps also facing the south direction. In the evening, we do the puja for Goddess Lakshmi, and make a fresh sweet for prasad. This is how we celebrate one of our favorite festivals, Diwali.