Happy Chanukah!

Yesterday was Diwali, which is a Hindu holiday celebrating the homecoming of Lord Ram after rescuing his wife Sita from the arms of the king of Lanka.  With the help of his faithful monkey-servant Hanuman, good triumphed over evil.

I read they're making a movie with Keanu Reeves.

The past few days have had me pondering a lot.  I'm a Christian who works at a Christian school where a majority of students are not Christian in a predominantly Hindu part of a predominantly Hindu country with a Sikh prime minister.  There are Muslims, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians in there too...

So, I'm trying to think of analogies to what I've seen the past few days.  The school had a fireworks display last night in honor of Diwali (the tradition is to set out diyas or lamps for Ram to find his way home- as if he'd get so lost to come by Mussorie).  I love fireworks, but isn't this kind of like a Jewish school having a Christmas pageant?  I mean, cool in the way of diversity and all, but kind of a contradiction.  But, considering how many Hindu kids are at the school and we don't allow them to go to the temple (the decision based I think on the fact they will buy fireworks and/or get limbs blown off in the bazaar), maybe it's only right that we do some fireworks.  I mean, if a bunch of Christians were a minority at a boarding school and they weren't allowed to go to church on Easter, it'd be only fair to have a celebration at school.

So, I guess the question I've been pondering is more about what is appropriate for Christians to do regarding devotion ceremonies to Hindu gods.  Or, regarding a long-standing fun cultural event.  WHICH ONE IS IT?!?  Some Christian staff participate in the explosive festivities without a second thought.  They'll also happily do yoga (another post, another post) along the Ganga and feel "spiritual."  Other Christian staff grumble that the school does anything for a Hindu holiday.  

I... observe.