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Celebrating Festivals: From India in America
Local cultural associations hold large events such as Diwali, Holi, and Navaratri.
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Tejas - Thu, 18, Sep 2025
- 23:52 EDT
- 6
Tejas Ramdasi during Diwali. / Tejas Ramdasi
Like many High School or college students, much of my Indian celebrations started at home. Growing up in a family that valued preserving Indian culture allowed me to understand and connect with my Indian culture despite being far away from my place of origin. Celebrating these festivals in the United States helped me create a bridge between my Indian and American identities, reminding me of my culture.
Ganpati has always been a major celebration we would have each year. During the 10 days, we welcome friends and neighbours for Ganesh Darshan. One of the most meaningful traditions we follow is hosting an Atharvashirsha pathan, reciting it a total of 1,000 times together as a community. Although it is a lot of work to organize this, being able to see everyone come together, similar to India, makes it worthwhile.
Beyond my home, there are numerous community events organized by various organizations, as well as college and school clubs. Local cultural associations hold large events such as Diwali, Holi, and Navaratri. I enjoy attending these events and love the energy people bring by dancing and lighting firecrackers.
At school clubs, it is much different. Many of the events are smaller, yet they are more engaging, and they give students a chance to come together and celebrate their cultures with their friends and classmates. I have participated in Diwali events where we decorated our classrooms and enjoyed lots of sweets, and I've also loved dancing at garba nights with my friends. Even though these events are organized by students, they carry the same excitement and always result in a lot of fun.
Celebrating Indian festivals in the U.S allows me to experience my favorite traditions from India, such as lighting diyas for Diwali, dancing during garba, and celebrating with colors during Holi. I love being able to celebrate this with my friends and family, and the community, with the energy everyone brings. Being able to celebrate festivals in the U.S. reminds me that wherever I am, I can follow my traditions and roots without it conflicting with the culture around me.
Tejas is a high school student interested in networking, writing, and studying current affairs.
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