Celebrating Indo-Canadian Life
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Vol. 2 NO. 8
1012673
Serving BC’s Interior
November 2013
indo-Canadian
Christmas Traditions
Community puts family at centre of celebration By Larkin Schmiedl
W
ith Diwali coming right before Christmas, it’s an easy time for Indo-Canadians to ease into another holiday before the Canadian New Year begins. Strings of lights often already adorn homes, “diyas” from Diwali, the festival of lights, are also used by some families to double as Christmas lights.
Commonly divorced from its religious context, Christmas is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and non-religious people alike. “I think for us it’s more meaningful in that we get to be with our family,” said Inder Sharma from Abbotsford. “I don’t know the religious context. We do understand the meaning behind it, of why Christmas is here, and why it’s celebrated, but I think we kind of take on more of a family-oriented role.” Sharma was born and raised in Canada, and she notices a generational difference among family members.
“Our parents would do Christmas, especially the gift-giving portion, just to make sure that we as kids also got gifts on Christmas. “I think our generation, we kind of took it to the next level, we’re decorating a whole lot more, following more of the traditions as far as the Christmas stocking, the little details, we’re also doing that just because we want to experience it more for ourselves.” She said for her family it’s about being festive and combining the two traditions of her generation and the older generation. “My newer generation, we’re more excited to be a part of Christmas and we kind of go all out.” Sharma and her husband Ravi have already taken their one-year-old to see Santa Claus and have a photo on his lap, “and we plan on doing that every year,” she said. “This is going to be a major thing for her this year.” When it comes to family gettogethers, Sharma said she caters to the older generation’s needs, mainly in terms of food. Christmas Eve the Sharmas will cook a turkey, and a vegetarian dinner as well. continued on page 3
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