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IronLionZion

(46,871 posts)
Mon Oct 24, 2022, 01:11 PM Oct 2022

Diwali is having a mainstream moment in the US

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/23/business/diwali-products-marketing-us-mainstream-cec/index.html



Diwali seems to be everywhere this year.

More and more major brands are recognizing the festival of lights, running ad campaigns and stocking products related to the holiday in the US. South Asian Americans who celebrate Diwali can now pick up fireworks from Costco, greeting cards from Hallmark and party decorations from Target.

Diwali, also known as Deepavali, is one of the most important festivals in Hinduism. The holiday also has significance for Sikhs and Jains, and is celebrated not just in India, but in Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries with South Asian diasporas.

The growing acknowledgment of the holiday in the US is a marked shift for many first- and second-generation South Asian Americans who grew up celebrating the festival at home but rarely saw it acknowledged outside of their communities, says Soni Satpathy-Singh, who runs the meal delivery review website Meal Matchmaker.

Eight years ago, Satpathy-Singh wrote a piece for Brown Girl Magazine lamenting that Diwali hadn’t caught the attention of mass market retailers, despite the Indian American population’s growing numbers and high incomes. Today, the landscape looks much different.

“It’s interesting to see how much has developed over the last eight years just in terms of things you can buy to celebrate Diwali,” she told CNN. “Growing up, we would buy diyas from India or [use] things that my parents already had at home. There was no venturing out to buy stuff for a party, partly because it wasn’t even available.”


My family is Christian but we like any excuse to celebrate something.
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Diwali is having a mainstream moment in the US (Original Post) IronLionZion Oct 2022 OP
At the school I substitute at they now recognize it and the parents of South Asian kimbutgar Oct 2022 #1

kimbutgar

(23,114 posts)
1. At the school I substitute at they now recognize it and the parents of South Asian
Mon Oct 24, 2022, 01:20 PM
Oct 2022

Americans students bring decorations and food to share and celebrate it.

I never knew about it until I saw it at school!

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