Miriam's school is off tomorrow in honor of the Diwali holiday. Also in honor of Diwali, they decreed today a uniform-free day, meaning the students could wear whatever they wanted to school. Miriam was so excited about that. She thought for a while about what she wanted to wear, and finally decided on her Indian dress (that we bought in Qatar) because, after all, it's Diwali.
Jeremy and I had momentary concerns that this would somehow be wildly culturally insensitive, but neither of us followed up on them beyond having Miriam ask her teacher if she could wear an Indian dress to school on Diwali. Her teacher said yes, and that was good enough for us. After Miriam got on the bus this morning, I went to trusty Wikipedia and read that it is traditional to wear new clothing on Diwali, so I think the white girl wearing an Indian dress should go over just fine.
Happy Diwali! Holiday season has definitely started here. Diwali, then a whole week off for Eid in early November, then Thanksgiving (though that's hardly a blip on the radar here), then National Day (a big deal since it's the UAE's 40th), then Christmas. Woohoo!
Jeremy and I had momentary concerns that this would somehow be wildly culturally insensitive, but neither of us followed up on them beyond having Miriam ask her teacher if she could wear an Indian dress to school on Diwali. Her teacher said yes, and that was good enough for us. After Miriam got on the bus this morning, I went to trusty Wikipedia and read that it is traditional to wear new clothing on Diwali, so I think the white girl wearing an Indian dress should go over just fine.
Happy Diwali! Holiday season has definitely started here. Diwali, then a whole week off for Eid in early November, then Thanksgiving (though that's hardly a blip on the radar here), then National Day (a big deal since it's the UAE's 40th), then Christmas. Woohoo!
She is adorable.
ReplyDeleteSo, so, so, so, so, so, so cute.
ReplyDeleteMy Indian friend mailed me a sari last week and I'm hoping beyond hope that some day I'll have a reason to actually wear it.
Wear it today for Diwali!
ReplyDeleteAdorable! I'm so glad that you consult wikipedia for stuff like that, too.
ReplyDeleteI never heard of Diwali until 7:30 this morning when I read your blog. At 1:00 while I was driving to an appointment, the radio host spent a good 5 minutes discussing the traditions of Diwali. Now I'm an expert!
ReplyDeleteUm that dress is adorable! I want one just like it :)
ReplyDeleteDiwali--again. Walking around my neighborhood tonight I passed one of the Indian families outside taking family photos for Diwali. They were dressed so nice and had put a special multiple-light-candle thing on their porch. It was neat to see.
ReplyDeleteI love that dress!! Have you seen the "Outsourced" episode about Diwali? That's the first time I heard about it!
ReplyDeleteI love that dress!! Have you seen the "Outsourced" episode about Diwali? That's the first time I heard about it!
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