What Are You Thankful For?

22^nd November is Thanksgiving Day in America; one Indian mom shares her perspective on Thanksgiving traditions.

By Divya Swami Attri

This article was first published at Masala Mommas.

Mildly surprised by her curious tone, I gave her a quizzical look, trying to decipher her possible concern. As she went into an explanation mode, giving me all and sundry details of her day at school, it turned out, that it was “the question of the day,” a part of her homework. Every student in her class had to speak about this topic the next day, a share-segment, for the Morning Meeting Activity. The exact answer to her question flashed upon my mind immediately. But to tell a second grader to go and say in front of her class that, “We do NOT have any family traditions for Thanksgiving and therefore I will not participate in the discussion”, was a heartbreaking thought! 

Creating Thanksgiving traditions in our desi household

As trivial as it may be, I chose not to reveal the fact. Instead, I concocted an impromptu and an “instant tradition” (“instant”- is my magic mantra these days) for our family on Thanksgiving, which she could share with her classmates, inflating her with confidence about it all. My daughter went to school the next morning, assured and certain in her mind. However, it left me pondering with many questions that many of us migrants often have to deal with. Should one remain oblivious to the local culture of the place you are currently living in or adhere faithfully to your inherent culture, or try to be the all-inclusive, embracing types, taking both of them in your stride?

Thanksgiving Traditions At Our Home

After living in three different continents and four different countries in a span of nine years, it felt like going on a perpetual cultural absorption, assimilation and preservation spree around the globe! Life has been an assortment of myriad socio-cultural experiences, a mixture of adapting the new fronts, and harbouring the old values.

Since the “instant tradition” had been already established, I preferred to stay with an ‘all-embracing’ frame of mind.

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What is Thanksgiving?

In retrospect, in all the previous years that we have been living on American soil, Thanksgiving for me was only about being thankful for the long weekend. Frankly, there was a lot to like about this rather humbling American tradition. The idea to allot a day in your calendar primarily to express a feeling of gratitude towards whomever one may wish is indeed a noble one.

Thanksgiving remains outside the realms of over commercialization unlike other festivals; it has nothing much to do with elaborate ritualistic and the materialistic aspects of gifts, costumes, or decorations. The celebration is simple and undemanding, it is mainly about getting together as a family or with friends, having an elaborate meal (Turkey being the special ingredient), and thanking God (the pilgrims and the harvest) but also expressing gratitude in general to family, friends, pets, house or anything else.

Turkey Cupcakes

As a typical desi family, we are more of a God-thanking people than human thanking. In innumerable ways, we thank God many times a day. However, in the daily parlance used at our home, the word ‘thank you’ comes in the grandiloquent category. Knitted in a secure and a strong relationship, we tend to take each other for granted, which has a charm of its own.

Nevertheless, the gratifying experience of a personal acknowledgement by heartfelt kind words of thanks is irreplaceable. Moreover, I genuinely believe that each one of us is worth the honour at least once a year. A holiday like Thanksgiving, will give us an opportunity to focus on the spirit of gratitude. It will also give us another reason to add, in the repertoire of the many celebrations that we are now accustomed to.

So how am I going to celebrate Thanksgiving this year? We will keep it simple. We will cook a sumptuous meal, and with tenderness in heart and humility in mind, will answer the question -‘What are you thankful for?’

*Featured image credit: Pringle Hill (Used under the Creative Commons Attribution License.)
*Divya’s children photo credit: Divya
*Turkey cupcakes photo credit: Sugar Daze (Used under the Creative Commons Attribution License.)

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