New group revives Indian culture
For parents who both work full-time, it can be challenging to keep cultural traditions alive.
But it was important enough to a group of young Indian professionals who came up with a more convenient way to do it.
Parents in Hinsdale, Oak Brook, Westmont, Burr Ridge and other nearby towns - many of whom are children of Indian immigrants - recently created a new cultural group called Hamara Parivar, which in Hindi means "our family."
The group's goal is to celebrate Indian holidays, culture, food and dance, and pass these traditions on to their children.
As kids, the parents remember chaotic Indian holiday parties with more than 1,000 people and no children's activities, sometimes for several nights in a row. Now that they're parents in modern American society, there is no time for that between work and shuttling their kids to activities. So instead of skipping these celebrations, as they'd been doing in recent years, they came up with the idea for Hamara Parivar.
With a group limited to 300 families and friends in their neighborhoods, they arrange one-night gatherings that start earlier and feature kid-friendly food and activities. The $35 tickets cover the cost of a full Indian meal.
For the recent Navratri celebration, the children made diya prayer plates with flameless candles, which they all held up later in the night during a dance. An Indian dance teacher was brought in to teach the kids traditional garba and rats dances.
"It's a bit more diluted (than traditional events) because we're Americans ... but people really wanted something like this. There's not a lot in our community," said Dr. Tapan Desai, 38, of Hinsdale, one of the group's co-founders, along with his wife, Shilpa. "To our amazement, a lot of people wrapped their hands around it."
Hamara Parivar's Navratri celebration drew a sold-out crowd of 300. The next event in April for Holi, the festival of colors, is expected to be a sellout, too.
"It's exciting that people want to maintain the culture. You just have to find ways to do it that works with your schedule," said Dina Patel, 38, of Westmont, one of the co-founders. "Everyone was so excited when they found out about this. After (Navratri), they were saying, 'Please have this again!'"
Hamara Parivar also has a charitable purpose. For Navratri, they organized a book drive for Bookwallah to provide Indian children in need with books. The kids wrote inscriptions in the donated books during the party.
They'll be do something for charity at this spring's Holi celebration, too. It'll also have things their Indian ancestors would have never dreamed of, including a DJ playing Bollywood music and an Indian food truck. It's being held at the Community House in Hinsdale.
"We're trying to maintain as much as we can without our parents around to help us," Patel said. "It's fun, and we enjoy it. It's part of our culture."