Nalini Krishnankutty: Inclusive calendars can create belonging

With October ending, and Thanksgiving just around the corner, our collective focus will soon shift to the approaching December holiday season. We may find ourselves rushing to finish up projects by mid-December, or re-evaluating December schedules and meetings, with an eye to work-life balance.

However, for me and many other Hindus, the focus in December often shifts to downtime and rest, after a busy fall holiday season, which starts in August and ends in November. Since Hindus use a lunar calendar, the dates for holidays vary each year. For example, Diwali or Deepavali can fall in October or November — this year, it falls on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4.

Hindu holidays can also vary across regions. In my family, where my husband and I have different regional Malayali and Tamil traditions, the current festive season started in August with Ganesh Chathurthi, Onam and Sri Krishna Jayanthi, and continued in October with Navaratri and Vijayadashami. It will end in November with Diwali first, followed by Karthika on Nov. 18.

Recently, about 20 U.S. states, including Pennsylvania, and about 40 U.S. cities acknowledged this festival season for Hindu Americans by proclaiming October as Hindu Heritage Month. The proclamations highlight Hindu traditions and the holidays of Navaratri, Durga Puja, Dussehra, Vijayadashami and Diwali, which typically fall in October.

Some of us may know of these holidays already through friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, or our lived experiences. Others may know them through inclusive calendars followed by some workplaces and educational institutions.

Using such calendars is a first step toward creating an inclusive environment, an essential feature of which is allowing everyone to bring their whole selves into any space. It can make the invisible visible, by acknowledging and planning for the reality of individuals observing diverse holidays, with or without a day off from work or school.

A thoughtful process is necessary to create such calendars. An individualized calendar tailored by feedback from current community members of all faiths is preferable to a generic one. Robust engagement of diverse communities to get their input is essential.

Next, the holidays must be integrated into an organization’s operations by understanding the context and realities of those celebrating them, and making any possible accommodations.

For example, on Nov. 3 and 4, many Hindus may be at work or school even though they are celebrating Diwali. Some may have started their day at dawn, with traditions and prayers, wearing new clothes and eating special homemade sweets. They may celebrate with family and friends over video calls or visits before and after school and work hours.

Prior to the pandemic, some may have participated in local community celebrations on the closest weekend. The programming for such events often requires months of planning and work by community volunteers.

Holiday preparations can make the days and weeks leading up to Diwali hectic for some. Others may need support to deal with isolation or painful life transitions, which can be accentuated around holidays.

Creating inclusive calendars and seeking and giving feedback on them are first steps to acknowledge the diversity of our communities and creating an environment of inclusion and belonging in schools, workplaces, and our personal spheres. A recent example is the September 2021 report by the Task Force on Inclusive and Culturally Sensitive School Meals and Calendars, which provides detailed recommendations on approaches, processes and policies for Virginia’s schools systems.

Borrowing Rudine Sim Bishop’s well-known metaphor of diverse books being windows, mirrors and sliding glass doors, truly “seeing” the many holidays on such calendars can be transformative in creating an inclusive atmosphere of belonging. It can provide us all with opportunities to sometimes look through a window into diverse worlds, to sometimes see ourselves reflected in the mirror, and to sometimes accept the invitation to step into new worlds through sliding glass doors.