{"id":9746,"date":"2021-11-22T21:22:09","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T21:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/?p=9746"},"modified":"2021-11-22T21:22:17","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T21:22:17","slug":"how-do-desis-celebrate-thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/how-do-desis-celebrate-thanksgiving\/","title":{"rendered":"How do Desi’s Celebrate Thanksgiving."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo Courtesy: Nicole Herbert Dean<\/p><\/div>\n

We are counting down the days to Thanksgiving – an annual \u0935\u093e\u0930\u094d\u0937\u093f\u0915 American holiday every November. Americans give thanks on this day for many reasons \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923\u094b\u0902. But the primary reason is to celebrate the commonly taught history \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923\u094b\u0902 of the first shared harvest between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans.<\/p>\n

So what does Thanksgiving mean to those from the Indian subcontinent \u0909\u092a\u092e\u0939\u093e\u0926\u094d\u0935\u0940\u092a in 2021? Many Indians have moved to the United States over the last few decades \u0926\u0936\u0915. They have come to work at large American companies such as Google and Microsoft. Or they come for a season \u0915\u093e\u0932 to go to college. They have settled here with families and many have children who go to American schools.<\/p>\n

The Indian diaspora \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0935\u093e\u0938\u0940 loves to celebrate Thanksgiving. Why?<\/p>\n

Many believe, that despite the controversies \u0935\u093f\u0935\u093e\u0926 and conflicting versions of history surrounding the holiday, it is a day to offer thanks. This view was brought home especially \u0935\u093f\u0936\u0947\u0937 \u0930\u0942\u092a \u0938\u0947 during these last couple of years. Indians come from a collective society where they find meaning in gathering together. They are more inclined \u0907\u091a\u094d\u091b\u0941\u0915 to gather together than be alone. Thanksgiving gives them the opportunity \u0905\u0935\u0938\u0930 to do so without the constraints and obligations \u0915\u0930\u094d\u0924\u0935\u094d\u092f of religion.<\/p>\n

2020 Thanksgiving<\/p>\n

Life became uncertain \u0922\u0941\u0932\u092e\u0941\u0932, and with that, the urge to stay closer to home, family, and close friends became stronger \u092e\u091c\u092c\u0942\u0924. In 2020, many chose to brave the outdoors\u00a0and gather around campfires \u0915\u0948\u092e\u094d\u092a \u092b\u093e\u092f\u0930 with food and coffee to prevent the spread of Covid. This year we see small gatherings and travel \u092f\u093e\u0924\u094d\u0930\u093e back home planned.<\/p>\n

Gathering around Food<\/p>\n

Indian culture revolves \u0918\u0942\u092e\u0924\u093e around food! Thanksgiving resonates with the Indian community because much of the cultural exchanges are done around food. Walk into an Indian household, and you are invited to stay for a meal or at least tea and a snack. So naturally, Thanksgiving provides the opportunity \u0905\u0935\u0938\u0930 to prepare traditional or Indian fusion Thanksgiving meals.<\/a> We invited neighbors and friends to share in the experience.<\/p>\n

Since \u0915\u094d\u092f\u094b\u0902\u0915\u093f the holiday is not a celebration \u0909\u0924\u094d\u0938\u0935 of any one religion, Indians of different backgrounds, whether Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Jain like to come together and celebrate this national holiday by eating together, watching football or movies and bonding with family and friends, in the true American spirit.<\/p>\n

Indian Fusion Food<\/p>\n

Many reputable \u0938\u092e\u094d\u092e\u093e\u0928\u093f\u0924 Indian-born chefs create great fusion food for Thanksgiving. This is a chance for them to display creativity \u0930\u091a\u0928\u093e\u0924\u094d\u092e\u0915\u0924\u093e in taking a simple menu and adding a desi flair to it. For the daring of heart, and palate I may say, you can sample a Tandoori Turkey, spicy \u092e\u0938\u093e\u0932\u0947\u0926\u093e\u0930 and sweet cranberry chutney, and green bean poriyal, not to mention masala potatoes. For dessert, Indian sweets are a must.<\/p>\n

Uncomfortable Discussions<\/p>\n

As with any gathering among Indians<\/a>, history \u0907\u0924\u093f\u0939\u093e\u0938, politics \u0930\u093e\u091c\u0928\u0940\u0924\u093f, and other topics are also a must! Many around the table, discuss the history of Thanksgiving, with the newer generations choosing to not really acknowledge the commonly \u0906\u092e\u0924\u094c\u0930 \u092a\u0930 known history of this holiday. Many feel the pressure to fit in with American society and therefore choose to celebrate Thanksgiving without much thought. But still, others, who have delved \u0924\u0932\u094d\u0932\u0940\u0928 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u093e into its history and politics, choose to go ahead and celebrate being thankful for the opportunities that are present in America without much thought for its history.<\/p>\n

After dinner activities<\/p>\n

Some watch football games or choose to watch a Bollywood movie. Still, others play a game of carrom – a popular \u0932\u094b\u0915\u092a\u094d\u0930\u093f\u092f game from back home or cards and board games like Scrabble (think of why so many win the spelling bee!). All in all the Indian people have a great time integrating a truly American tradition into their lives and making it their own.<\/p>\n

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We are counting down the days to Thanksgiving – an annual \u0935\u093e\u0930\u094d\u0937\u093f\u0915 American holiday every November. Americans give thanks on this day for many reasons \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923\u094b\u0902. But the primary reason is to celebrate the commonly taught history \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923\u094b\u0902 of the first shared harvest between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. So what does Thanksgiving mean…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":9758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,70],"tags":[556396,3848,556397,556395],"class_list":["post-9746","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-food","tag-indian-diaspora","tag-indian-food","tag-tandoori-turkey","tag-thanksgiving"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9746"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9760,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9746\/revisions\/9760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}