The Secret Connection Between Indian and American Holidays by Nandan Kamalakannan

 The Secret Connection Between Indian and American Holidays by Nandan Kamalakannan

If you grow up celebrating both Indian and American holidays, you eventually hit a moment

where you realize a massive, global secret: human beings all over the world are actually doing

the exact same things. We just use different decorations and completely different menus.

When you look closely at the calendar, you realize that the biggest festivals in India and the

biggest holidays in the US are essentially cultural twins.

Take Diwali and Christmas. At first glance, one is the Hindu festival of lights featuring clay

lamps and fireworks, and the other is a winter holiday with pine trees and snowmen. But the

actual "vibe" of both holidays is identical. Both require you to spend three days untangling

aggressively knotted string lights to hang outside your house. Both involve your family buying

entirely too many sweets—swapping out peppermint bark and gingerbread for barfi and gulab

jamun. And both carry that exact same electric, cozy energy where the whole neighborhood is

glowing, everyone is dressed up, and you are desperately trying to figure out what to buy your

relatives for a gift.

Then, there is the undeniable connection between Thanksgiving and Pongal. Thanksgiving is the

ultimate American harvest festival, built entirely around the concept of being thankful for what

we have, gathering with family, and eating an absurd amount of carbs until you need a nap.

Pongal, the South Indian harvest festival, is the exact same concept. Instead of roasting a turkey

and mashing potatoes, you boil freshly harvested rice with milk and jaggery until it spills over

the pot to symbolize abundance. Both holidays are rooted in honoring the earth, thanking

farmers, and experiencing a massive, unavoidable food coma by 3:00 PM.

But the absolute best comparison—and the one people rarely think about—is Halloween and

Navaratri, specifically the tradition of Golu.

In America, October is all about Halloween displays. You put up cobwebs, arrange pumpkins on

your porch, and people walk from house to house in the neighborhood to admire the setups and

collect candy. During the Indian festival of Navaratri, families in the south set up a "Golu"—a

massive, multi-tiered staircase display in their living room filled with intricate wooden and clay

dolls, gods, and figurines. Instead of carving pumpkins, you are carefully arranging a miniature

village. And just like Halloween, the whole point is neighborhood hopping. You invite friends

and neighbors over to see your display, and when they leave, you hand them little gift bags filled

with sweets and a savory chickpea snack called sundal instead of fun-size Snickers. It is the

exact same energy of setting up an elaborate display and touring your neighborhood, just with

significantly fewer plastic skeletons.

At the end of the day, no matter where you are in the world, people just really want an excuse to

put up cool displays, light up their houses, and eat a ridiculous amount of good food with the

people they care about. The traditions might look different on the outside, but the celebration is

exactly the same.