Hey everyone! Today's post by Anvita Anaja, who discusses the journey she took to start loving her faith and her culture. She talks about feeling ostracized and confused about beinh Hindu, and how she overcame her fears.
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From a young age, I realized I was different. The color of my skin wasn't in the crayon box and I couldn’t spend a “weekend at grandma's” as easily as some of my peers. While my friends shared Bible verses on their Instagram bios, I celebrated poojas privately off social media. I was uncomfortable that my religion was in a different language than my friends.
It felt awkward to share different opinions about how the world came to be or why one has faith in a higher source.
Though I was born in India my family immigrated to the United States when I was 11 months old, any life I have ever known has been in Raleigh, North Carolina. Through elementary school race, religion, and culture didn’t phase me because I was so young or because I went to an extremely diverse school. Coming to middle school taught me a lot about change and learning that it’s okay to be different.
People around me used to find it funny that I prayed to a “monkey god” or “elephant god” and that I had “1000 gods”. I never doubted my culture or who I prayed to until people brought the topic on as a joke for Hindus. My entire life, I’ve been raised to going to the temple on a weekly basis and going to Garba every September and celebrating Diwali every fall.
Getting asked how I’m spending my Easter was odd for someone who never participated in it or doesn’t fully understand why you celebrate it.
If there is anything I’ve learned in the past couple of years, it's to embrace the things that make you different. Getting asked at school why I posted a picture in a fancy crop top and long skirt when really I was celebrating Holi in a lengha felt strange until I realized they didn’t know any better.
Middle school brought an entire new series of fast paced learning experiences. I was expected to be more independent and responsible but to also contribute to my family, community , and school work. For added complexities, I was also surrounded with new people. In the school I went to, Indians were seen as a small minority. In fact, in my first two years at this school, I was the only Indian student in 5 out of 8 of my classes. People would give me extra attention while classmates curiously asked questions, as to them, I was the only gateway to Indian culture.
Even with more Indians in my class, I was still the only North Indian which gave me more notice from the Indian community as well.
I remember friends who would bring Indian food for lunch while our other classmates looked at them in disgust. I remember opting out of cultural days because I knew I would be severely judged, and would just not tell people I was born in India.
Through years of facing subtle racism and getting weird looks when I talk about my culture, I have learned it’s okay to be different and to stand up for something you believe in. In fact, it's more than okay. America, as a land of immigrants, rather than a melting pot of several cultures, is a cultural mosaic where each color blends with the others while also retaining its own shine.