Clothing and Religion for Indian Immigrants
For our IDC website, I think it’d be really cool to take a look at how religion and clothing are intertwined within the context of Indian culture. During major religious holidays and festivals, such as Diwali, Holi, Navratri, clothing plays an indispensable role in celebrations. As someone who was raised in a pretty devout Hindu household, I know that culturally the “garb” worn during religious celebration differs greatly from the attire individuals sports on the regular. It’d be pretty easy for me to research how Indian immigrants not only adapt to NYC life by leaving aspects of their religion and culture (in terms of clothing) behind but also how they’re able to incorporate it into their new lives. I grew up in Jackson Heights, which has notoriously been referred to as “Brown Town”; thus it would be easy for me to do research as to how Indian clothes became available in Queens /New York City. In addition, because I own an almost ridiculous amount of traditional Indian clothing, it’d be relatively easy for me to talk about my own experience and the experience of other first-generation immigrants. I could focus on how aspects of religion (going to the temple, holidays, marriages) provide a platform for Indians to proudly display their culture, allowing hem to retain their cultural identity.
Something else that I think is worthy of exploration and is also connected to this subject are how Indian immigrants and first-generation children have modified tradition clothing as a response to assimilation. One thing that immediately came to mind regarding this topic was how the Sikh community in NYC was affected by 9/11. Turbans, commonly known as pagri or dastar in India, (mistakenly) became a physical manifestation and symbol of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Due to a misguided conception that anyone who wore a turban was automatically a terrorist or a supporter of jihadist ideology, many Sikhs were compelled to stop wearing turbans as they faced increasing racial and religious discrimination. Citing the experience of the few Sikhs my family knows, I think this is a prime example of how the ethnic community has had to abandon some of the traditions that they practiced in NYC in order to assimilate. In addition, I could even examine the prejudice that accompanies wearing bindhis or tikkas, something that affects how Indians immigrants adjust to life in NYC. There are a plethora of ways that I could take this or how I could hone this topic down, which also gives me some flexibility for how to organize it and do research. All in all, I think this would be a fun thing to discuss.
