Last night was my first celebration of an indian festival in India. Lohri, traditionally a punjabi festival, involves burning a bon fire and throwing popped corn and nuts on it to celebrate the harvest season (this is my understanding based on the numerous explanations I have heard). While it was mainly people of the Sikh faith that organised the bon fires around the neighbourhood that I was in, it was an amazing feeling to see it being celebrated by people of all religions: Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Jains and Christians spending hours together around the fire chatting, learning about the festival and appreciating each others company. Despite having a majority Hindu population in Delhi and India, the same thing happens on Eid and Christmas.
Our differences are what unite us. This is what it means to be secular. This is what it means to be Indian.
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