I'm Hindu, DON'T eat Indian Food, Drink Chai, or Practice Yoga - FAITH vs. CULTURE
I’m Indian American. Tamil American to be exact. My parents immigrated to the USA from the South Indian State of Tamil Nadu. I was born in California, moved to New York City as a teen to attend Parsons School of Design, and never left.
Like many Indian Americans or any child of immigrants, growing up often I was asked where you from?
Me: California
Them: No, where are you REALLY from?
Me: Um. Bay Area
Them: No, like where you from?
Me: Um Ok Fremont, California
Them: No your ethnic origin?
Me : (I’m thinking what the F), How the F is this even relevant?
Me: Fine I’m Indian, well my parents are, I was born in the USA.
I never understood why people are so fascinated with asking that question to anyone that doesn’t look like them? Perhaps it’s genuine curiosity which is fine, but when I was younger I used to get terribly annoyed. Why couldn’t people just see me for who I am, a human being, an American gal? But No they see my brown skin and want to know what country I came from, I’m from the big OL’ country of the USA which is where I was born and raised!
I’m Hindu and folks assume because I am “Indian American” I would LOVE Indian food. WRONG. I’m constantly asked for Indian restaurant recommendations, I always send them to my food blogger/influencer friend (that’s his job to know about restaurants/hotspots) who is NOT Indian!
I don’t like SPICY food, which is what most Indian restaurants in the USA serve. My parents also never raised me to eat spicy food. I do like Indian food when my mother, aunts, or cousins cook, their food tends to not have spice in it. I have yet to find one restaurant in the USA that cooks Indian food as my family does.
I always went to Afghan restaurants (I’m from Fremont, AKA Lil’ Kabul the largest Afghani population outside of Afghanistan, the famous novel Kite Runner, takes place in Fremont) which is very similar to Indian food but without the spice! My dad seems to know every Afghan Uncle restaurant owner in Fremont LOL, they know their Hindu friends are coming and prepare special vegetarian dishes for us, which is so kind of them.
Every time my family and I would go to a Hindu Temple, the naiveydham or sacred food offering would be waaaay too spicy for me! If there was a sweet, I would eat that. I understand that South Asia is the birthplace of Hinduism or Sanathana Dharma, so food offerings would be of South Asian origin.
HOWEVER- the only “food” mentioned specifically in various Hindu Scriptures are milk, ghee (clarified butter), sugar, yogurt, buttermilk, rice, grains, honey, and certain fruits like banana, pomegranate, and mango (among others).
It never says God/divine has to ONLY eat/or be offered INDIAN food! In the Bhagavat Gita (Hindu holy scripture), Lord Krishna says: “Offer me even one droplet of water with full faith I will come to you”.
Nowhere in any Hindu religious scripture does it say to serve Palak Paneer, Samosa, or Dosa!
Why does the world assume because one is Indian, has Indian heritage, or is Indian American they would LOOOOOVE Indian food or be a practicing Hindu?
(I personally LOOOOVE Mexican food, I grew up in Cali, lots of amazing Mexican Aunty/Uncle-owned homecooked restaurants to choose from!)
I NEED / WANT the world to stop associating Hindu with being Indian, and Indian with being Hindu.
At the Broome St Hipster Ganesha Temple, folks from all different backgrounds/nationalities used to come to partake in Hindu puja or worship. Eddie (president of the Temple) would tell them to bring something to offer to God at puja but make sure no meat or eggs. One Mexican lady brought a full taco spread with beans, cheese, shells, etc. Another Irish lady brought a sack of potatoes for Lord Shiva’s puja. A lot of Indian-origin folks gave them odd looks.
I said why should God Only eat Indian food? These NON INDIAN women are Hindu too, stop judging them, God accepts anything given out of love and devotion. Erin and I chopped up those potatoes and made french fries for everyone.
My friend Erin was the resident “chef” at Broome Street. She would come up with all sorts of vegan/vegetarian dishes for Naivedyam! Folks would also offer vegan cakes and cookies (pics below, with Mahalakshmi puja (she’s got a ton of cake/cookies under the flowers!)
“Hindu Faith” and “Hindu Culture” are two very different things. I get it culture and religion can be intertwined. But religion is FAITH a belief system/values rooted in worship and building a relationship with the almighty divine.
Culture can be art, music, dance, FOOD, fashion, etc. India is a country with a multitude of different cultures, languages, peoples, etc. Every religion in the WORLD is practiced there!
YOGA & MEDITATION- Ugh this frustrates me. Often I’m asked why don’t you practice Yoga (meaning physical yoga) or lead meditations when you’re Indian American and Hindu?
My answers :
I’m always that person in the back screaming for SHAVASANA (corpse pose, so I can pass the F out, I’m friggin tired). I don’t find “Yoga” relaxing AT ALL!! I prefer boxing, pole dancing, swimming, weight training to get my fitness in every day. I LOVE the gym!
BUT I do PRACTICE YOGA - Bhakti Yoga or Devotion, Love, to the Divine, Jñāna yoga or path of knowledge, and Karma Yoga or the path of unselfish action. I LOVE to volunteer and serve hot meals to the hungry and needy at Our Father’s Heart Church and Salvation Army so I practice Karma Yoga. I love to learn, am constantly discovering new techniques in design, and more about Hinduism so I do practice Jnana YOGA.
The world thanks to social media and the constant bombardment of images of folks/hot models doing bendy poses in pretty locations has led the world to believe that Yoga is only physical poses, it’s REALLY NOT.It is a HINDU spiritual path of devotion and service to mankind not about wearing lululemon pants posing on a Marc Jacobs yoga mat!
Meditation is shown/packaged/sold in the west as a “breathing technique/mind-body-soul rejuvenation/mindfulness” led by some pretty person telling you to breathe in/breathe out still your mind, blah blah and other FLUFFY marketing copy! Meditation came from Hinduism and Buddhism (Buddha is the 9th incarnation of Lord Vishnu (or SUPREME CONSCIOUSNESS, aka your mind) in Hinduism). Sure some people like to sit in silence and concentrate on nothing, but it’s not the ONLY way to “meditate”.
According to Wikipedia: Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm, and stable state.
SOOOO technically music, classical Indian dance (Indian Classical Music & Dance Traditions are rooted in Hindu worship), chanting, puja (all things I love) are considered “Meditation” since it does clear my mind, makes me feel better, and prevents me from wanting to cut a h*e! (Hey I live in NYC, it’s a tough city)!
So why should I sit in silence then breathing in and out and feel like I’m out of breath? Or fall asleep??
”INDIAN AMERICANS” & “CHAI”
Chai or tea is drunk mostly in North India. I never grew up with my mom making freshly brewed “chai”. Numerous Indian American social media accounts/“Chai” companies keep posting about “that childhood experience” & “OOH a hot cup of Chai solves everything” blah blah so the west thinks it is the norm for ALL Indian/Indian origin folks (rolling my eyes emoji) to love Chai. WRONG!
What I drank was Madras coffee or filter coffee which is delicious! Madras is the old British name for Chennai, the capital city of the South Indian State of Tamil Nadu, where my mother is from.
Coffee came to South India through Yemen and the trade route. A very interesting story: Baba Budan was a 16th-century Sufi, revered by both Muslims and Hindus, whose shrine is at Baba Budangiri, Chikkamagalur, Karnataka, South India. He is said to have introduced the coffee plant to India by bringing seven raw beans (smuggled in his beard) from the port of Mocha, Yemen while coming back from performing the sacred Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
In those days coffee was exported to other parts of the world in roasted or baked form so that no one could grow their own and were forced to buy from the Yemenis. He brought seven beans because the number 7 is considered sacred in Islam. The coffee plants were then raised at the place that bears his name. From the South Indian State of Karnataka, coffee drinking spread throughout the south and became popular! SO Coffee is sacred, spiritual, and holy!
Take that Chai! hahaha! J/k I do like Chai if it’s Kashmiri or Pink Afghan Chai, maybe because it’s pink?
I get it there is a larger population of North Indian People in the USA than South Indians so their culture/practices would dominate. BUT some of the most prominent “INDIANS” in the USA are of “South Indian” origin example Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (Telugu), Google CEO Sundar Picahi (Tamil), Surgeon General of the USA Vivek Murthy (Kannadiga)!
The world needs to stop assuming that ALL Indians or Indian origin people speak/understand one language, practice Hinduism, or drink Chai!
India is not just about “One thing” there is so much more to our rich and diverse cultures, religions (every religion on the planet is practiced there), numerous languages (5,000+ & more being discovered), and history!
I wish the west would take the time to understand and appreciate the diversity of India and Indian Americans!
There is something EXTRA SPECIAL about Hindu Temple Food. It is cooked with love, faith, and devotion, you can taste the difference. Here is my friend Gabriel (who’s vegan) enjoying his meal (yes that’s ALL HIS FOOD, not Mine!) after Ganesha Puja with great relish at the world-famous https://canteen.nyganeshtemple.org/
I affectionately call him “Gundotharan” (Tamil folks will understand).
The aunties/uncles of the Temple love him more than me because of his great appreciation for our food while I get eye rolls/ bonks on the head/ made fun of for my spiceless tastebuds LOL
(Kanna poda thai DI, let the boy eat/enjoy, Chamatu Pilai!!)
