2B
My Cultural Currency: Commercial Christmas
D
espite the fact that I
belong to a long line of
practicing Hindus, I
am, surprisingly, a big fan of the
holiday season — in particular,
Christmas.
You’d think I’d be uncomfort-
able at the sight of predominant
Christian imagery and music dur-
ing this time of year. But I take it
in stride.
I’ve bought into the commer-
cial hype of Christmas. Maybe it’s
the result of living in the United
States for so long, but as soon as
my calendar shifts to December
my entire demeanor changes.
I’m in it for the aesthetic appeal,
for the very fact that everything
just looks prettier around the fes-
tive time of year. Mall and home
décor — considering the amount
of tinsel and sparkles that occupy
every corner — look like they’ve
been blessed by the ghost of Lib-
erace.
It seems as if, almost overnight,
I turn into an ugly-sweater-wear-
ing, Vanilla-Bean-Noel-smelling,
compulsive
candy-cane-eating
version of myself.
I know Christmas is a sig-
nificant and auspicious time for
Christians, but I guiltily get excit-
ed just at the prospect of listen-
ing to Wham! and Mariah Carey
Christmas tunes 24/7 without
judgment.
December is my moment. It’s
what I’ve been waiting for since
practically the day after Christ-
mas the year before.
I can blast my Christmas Spo-
tify playlist, appropriately titled
“YAS CHRISTMAS YAS,” and
put on an elaborate one-woman
lip-sync performance of “Baby It’s
Cold Outside” — which is ordered
four times consecutively in the
playlist — without the intense,
burning shame that usually fol-
lows when I do the same thing in
the middle of July.
As an outsider from another
faith, even the commercial build-
up around Christmas can’t avoid
reminding me about the true
meaning of the holiday. Believe
me, I’m aware that Christmas is
about family, charity and worship.
Diwali, the festival of lights, is a
particularly important holiday for
Hindu families, where, in a man-
ner similar to Christmas, loved
ones make an effort to spend time
together. During the holiday, fam-
ilies will decorate their houses
with lights — again, like Christ-
mas — and eat special, celebratory
meals.
But, because of the relatively
small Hindu community here, I
haven’t been able to enjoy Diwali
the way it’s mean to be celebrated.
There are no light-adorned hous-
es in the middle of October, no
Diwali songs playing on the radio
and no special ABC Family movie
countdown.
It’s just another October. And
although it’s irrational — con-
sidering Hinduism is a minority
religion in America — the lack of
awareness never fails to disap-
point me.
Because my own religion isn’t
practiced as widely in the U.S.
as Christianity, communal cel-
ebrations of big festivals such as
Diwali have been missing for the
majority of my life.
Christmas is a national phe-
nomenon and by partaking in the
hype around Christmas — the
ridiculously-decorated
houses,
the red Starbucks cups — I feel
like I make up for Diwali’s lack of
festivity for myself.
It’s comforting to know that
when I’m jamming out to “Last
Christmas” and starting on my
15th box of candy canes, the rest
of America is doing the same.
And I don’t feel so alone.
B Y TA N YA M A D H A N I
Wednesday, January 7, 2015 // The Statement
... like they’ve
been blessed
by the ghost of
Liberace.
ILLUSTRATION BY MAGGIE MILLER
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