The importance of each other’s holidays.
By Sereen Thahir
WASHINGTON, DC: As the end of Ramadan and Eid-al-Fitr passed last week, I was thankful to be home to celebrate with my family.
My parents have always stressed the importance of being with family on Eid and during Ramadan. Of course growing up, there was no other way to celebrate it. Since most of our family lives in India, we had created our own pseudo-family of friends here ever since I was little. We always looked forward to the feast of Indian food, the gathering of friends, and most importantly, the exchanging of presents. During Ramadan, my mom would fry up delicious snacks for us to break our fasts. Up until high school, I had always celebrated my holidays with those who celebrated just as I did.
Getting to college, however, was a bit different. Move-in day first year was also the first day of Ramadan. By the time my family had left after setting up my new dorm room, I was faced with long hours until I could break my fast. There were hall activities and other first year welcome events tempting me with free food galore (the ultimate incentive for a college student, as I would soon realize) that I was invited to.
Rather than face the loneliness of my dorm alone, I chose to go to these activities and skip out on the food. Being the only Muslim in my hall, I would sit with the other girls with my to-go box loaded with food while they ate so I would not be left out. At first it seemed awkward, but it was a way to share my way of living with others who had little idea. They were very welcoming and accommodating, something I did not expect at all.
What’s great about going away from home for college is the ability to live with others who you may seem to have little in common with. My first year roommate and her family had lived in the States for generations, but living with her made both of us realize the importance of each other’s holidays. Even though we learn in school about all sorts of holidays, living with others allows us to see the significance of these holidays in their lives.
When I moved on to second year, I lived with girls I had met through our Indian Students Association. Even though I expected more similarities, I learned that even we celebrated our own holidays differently. My Muslim roommate celebrated Eid by visiting all of her family throughout the area, while my celebration was limited to our family friends.
While I had definitely known about Diwali, it was fun to celebrate it with my roommates and friends because it was important to them. When my roommates went home for Navratri or Ganesh Chaturti, I recognized there was a world of holidays and culture within my own that I had not yet realized. Even if they could not go home, they would to seek to celebrate it in college, either by fireworks or simply eating Indian food and sharing with friends. Celebrating holidays with others gives us a chance to further understand a friend’s perspective and what’s important to them. Just like sharing Ramadan with my first year hall gave them an insight into my life, celebrating my friends’ holidays gave me an insight to their lives that I never expected.
So to those of you going off to college or maybe just in general: take an effort to share your holidays with others and appreciate when they celebrate theirs with you. The Eid Mubarak texts I received from all of my friends, both Muslim and non-Muslim, brightened my holiday even further. Even though I spent the day, like every Eid prior, in the same fashion, the added touch of friends celebrating made it all the more special.
To contact the author, email to editor@americanbazaaronline.com