Deepavali / Diwali - Commercialization, Consumerism, & COMMUNITY

As a Tamil Hindu, I never celebrated Diwali. As an Indian American I now do. It’s heartwarming to see Diwali bringing together people of diverse faiths and cultures, celebrating light, hope, and community.

classical traditions, cross cultures, culture, cultures, desi american, educate, faith, global cultures, hindu, hinduism, history, hometown, indian american, interfaith, love, new york, my story, nyc, oneness, religion, religions, reflections, spirituality, tamil, tamil american, tamil nadu, temple, unique, unity, unityindiversity, world religions, diversity and inclusion, diversitysangeetha kowsikDecember 1, 2024hindu, hinduism, festival, santha, sikh, sikhism, muslim, islam, comm, community, festivals, holiday, high, holidays, deepavali, diwali, nyc, new york city, new york, south asia, south, southindian, south indian, tamil, tamil culture, tamil american, american, desi american, usa, pakistan, music, culture, cultural diversity, cultu, cro, global culture, global cultures, beauty, fashion, querr, queer, transgender, lgptqi+, diversityandinclusion, diversity, educate, educationComment

Anti Racism from a Hindu Perspective - As demonstrated by a "Golu"

In Hinduism, racism finds no place, as the rich descriptions of deities' diverse skin tones and facial features illustrate emphasizes “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (Sanskrit language)”

“The world is one family!”.

From the fair-skinned Goddess Saraswati to dark-complexioned Lord Krishna, Lord Shiva's dreaded locks, Goddess Meenakshi’s “fish eyes”, Lord Muruga’s curly black hair, Goddess Lakshmi’s golden complexion etc. We even have major deities like Lord Hanuman and Lord Ganesha, who do not possess human-like features, emphasizing our reverence and affection for all creation, recognizing that everything is an extension of the divine. Hinduism embraces the beauty of diversity.

world religions, unityindiversity, unity, unique, temple, tamil nadu, tamil american, tamil, spirituality, spiritual activism, south asia, religions, religion, reflections, racism, prayer, new york, nyc, my story, oneness, love, interfaith, inspiration, inclusion, impact, hinduism, hindu temple, hindu, global cultures, global, friendship, faith, education, educate, diversity, cultures, cross cultures, create the change, compassion, classical traditions, change in thinking, change, appreciation, activismsangeetha kowsikSeptember 29, 2024hindu, hinduism, festival, navaratri, golu, goddess, anti racism, racism, diversity, inclusion, inclusiveness, diversityandinclusion, hindu chaplain, faith, interfaith, spirituality, spiritual, santhana dharma, santhanadharma, southasia, india, educate, education, educateyourself, teach, doll display, navarthri, navarathri, unityindiversity, colorism, durga, girl gods

SELF HATING (Indian Americans). Loving HINDU TEMPLES. AUNTIES & UNCLE GUTS.

If Hinduism is such a DOPE OPENMINDED INCLUSIVE faith……then…

WHY DO SO MANY INDIAN AMERICANS GROW UP WITH SELF-HATRED, MAKING FUN OF HINDU RITUALS / PRACTICES, DEITIES, INDIAN ACCENTS, FOOD, DRESS ETC. & CONFUSE BEING “INDIAN” (WHICH IS A NATIONALITY/RACE) WITH BEING A HINDU (A FAITH THAT ANY PERSON OF ANY NATIONALITY/RACE CAN PRACTICE) ???

activism, activist, appreciation, art, artwork, change, change in thinking, childhood, classical traditions, compassion, create the change, cross cultures, culture, cultures, desi american, design, distinctive, diversity, educate, education, faith, friendship, global cultures, global, hindu, hindu temple, hinduism, history, holiday, hometown, impact, inclusion, indian american, inspiration, interfaith, love, new york, music, my story, nyc, oneness, prayer, reflections, religion, religions, south asia, spiritual activism, spirituality, tamil nadu, tamil american, temple, tamil, unique, unity, world religions, unityindiversitysangeetha kowsikDecember 19, 2022hindu, hinduism, hindu temple, temples, temple, temple worship, spirtiuality, spiritual, spirituality, india, inspiration, southindian, south indian, south india, south aisa, indian, indian arts, indian classical music, music, history, sanathana, sanathanadharma, santhana dharma, dharma, sanatana dharma, educate, education, educateyourself, break stereotypes, stereotypes, faith, interconnectedness, interfaith, international, sanskrit, worship, ritual, growing up, american, tamilamerican, tamil american, desi, desi american

Transforming Spaces : The Power of Indian Classical Music

I adore that Indian Classical Music is a form of worship, the interconnectedness between Hinduism and Islam, the beautiful melodies and various ragas, has to power to transform and unite, but most of all it’s the way to reach the divine, who is LOVE!

appreciation, art, california, classical traditions, compassion, cross cultures, culture, cultures, desi american, diversity, educate, education, faith, friendship, global, global cultures, hindu, hindu temple, hinduism, history, impact, hometown, holiday, inspiration, indian american, interfaith, islam, language, languages, love, music, my story, nyc, oneness, prayer, reflections, religion, religions, spiritual activism, spirituality, tamil, tamil american, tamil nadu, temple, unityindiversity, unitysangeetha kowsikOctober 31, 2022music, musician, musicians, classical, classical music, inclusivity, indian, southindian, south india, tamil nadu, tamil, tamilnadu, tamil culture, tamilamerican, tamils, hinduism, hindustani, carnatic, Karnatic, raga, ragam, melody, temple, temples, hindu, hindu temple, hinduarchitecture, temple worship, worship, faith, international, interconnectedness, interfaith, islam, sarod, sarswati, sound, sounds, transformative, transform, bhakti, devotion, spiritual, spirituality, inspiration, sangeetha, sangeetham, sanathanadharma, sanatana dharma, vishnu, saraswati, tradition, traditions, ancient, ancient cultures, ancient traditions, contemporary, amir khusro, purandardasa, saint, ganapati, ganesha, ganesh, deepavali, diwali, festival, high holiday, holiday, ritual, rituals, practice, riyaaz, riyaz, lineage, spirtiuality, friendship, love, unity, unityindiversity, community, comm, history, educate, education, educateyourself, yoga, meditation, appreciation, creatives, creative, mughal, court, king, dynasty, family, cultures, culture, crosscultural, cultural diversity, south indian, bengal, bengali, indian arts, india, north india, southasia, asia, sufi islam, sufi, sufism, heritage, sacred, puja, prayer, mystory, story, experience, my experiences, my truth, truth, samaveda, veda

A Muslim Musician wrote a MANTRAM!

A mantram can be repetitive (but doesn’t have to be) and is used for meditation, prayer, and maybe even to set your intentions/goals. For me, Alam Khan’s album Mantram is a true spiritual/religious experience. I LOVE every single track and I am in tears by the end of it, but happy tears because I’ve seen my beloved Lord. It reminds us that no matter how much crap and emotional turmoil we’ve all gone through in life, HOPE & LOVE is what wins at the end.

appreciation, art, california, change in thinking, change, classical traditions, compassion, cross cultures, culture, cultures, education, educate, diversity, design, desi american, friendship, faith, global, global cultures, hindu, hindu temple, hinduism, history, hometown, impact, inspiration, interfaith, inclusion, indian american, islam, love, museum, my story, oneness, nyc, new york, reflections, religion, religions, spirituality, spiritual activism, south asia, tamil, travel, unique, unity, unityindiversitysangeetha kowsikOctober 1, 2022hindu, hindustani, hinduism, music, musician, musicians, islam, mantra, mantram, new music, classical music, indian classical dance, dharma, sanatana dharma, indian arts, india, indian, sarod, composer, community, unity, unique, unityindiversity, south asia, southasia, south indian, southindian, south india, temple, worship, aliakbarkhan, temples, hindu temple, cali, california, mystory, ritual, spiritual, spirituality, inspiration, friendship, muslims, muslim, ohm, japa, homam, designer, artist, creative, creatives, crosscultural, faith, belief, hope, love, compassion, shiva, vishnu, practice, prayer, sanskrit, sanathanadharma, sanathana

Interconnectedness, Hate, Love, & Ahimsa (Non Violence)

As a lifelong practicing Hindu who adheres to the principle of Ahimsa, which means “nonviolence” meaning not to harm any living creature with your words, thoughts, or physically.

it boggles my mind that the 3 great Abrahamic faiths of the world Christianity, Judaism, and Islam lived in relative peace and unity, and gave the world beautiful art, architecture, and an interconnected culture before someone drank CUCKOO juice, and decided to fill their minds/hearts/brains/souls with hatred and expelled Jews and Muslims, which led to the bloody Spanish inquisition of 1492!

These are my reflections of the interconnectedness, unity, inspiration, and beauty, I saw through religion, faith, culture, and art.

activism, activist, appreciation, art, artwork, change, change in thinking, classical traditions, create the change, cross cultures, culture, cultures, design, diversity, distinctive, faith, friendship, global, global cultures, graphic design, hindu, hinduism, history, impact, inclusion, holiday, inspiration, interfaith, islam, language, languages, museum, my story, music, oneness, painting, religion, religions, prayer, south asia, spiritual activism, spirituality, travel, unique, unity, unityindiversity, travel diaries, reflections, world religions, islamic art, racism, Islamophobia, anti semitism, love, compassion, new york, nycsangeetha kowsikAugust 31, 2022art history, art, design, designs, designer, history, museum, the metropolitan museum of art, truth, hate, love, compassion, islam, islamicarchitecture, architecture, reli, faith, interfaith, islamic, judaism, jew, jewish, christian, christianity, fatima, prophet, spain, spiritual, spirituality, inspiration, portugal, heart, one love, true love, mystory, my truth, jesus, interconnectedness, international, unity, unityindiversity, community, communities, travel, travelling, instatravel, travel blogger, travels, granada, cordoba, castle, seville, allhambra, pilgramage, typography, stereotypes, gratitude, activist, activism, racism, change, bethechange, connected, colonization, culture, crosscultural, cultural diversity, cultures, ancient traditions, tradition, traditions, world, oneness, one world, oneneww, global, global culture, global cultures, antisemitism, phobia, hatred, peace, understanding, educate, education, educateyourself, blog, blogger, non violence, ahimsa, gandhi, india, dharma, sanatana dharma, sanskrit, southasia, southasian, southasianartist, southasianart, south aisa, south asia, south indian, south india, together, unique, ancient cultures, beauty, shrine, prayer, worship, pattern, repeat pattern, islamicart, islamic art, islamic pattern, andorra, iberian, Iberian Penninsula, spanish, sephardicComment