Festival celebration dilutes over the time if it is not linked to strong rituals. Xmas is, by visiting church, xmas carols etc. Some are religious rituals, some are traditional. For e. g. even though thanks giving is not religious still celebrated through some rituals. In that sense diwali, holi like festivals survive in NRI community through scale of the community around. I remember we played holi in such passion that locals came out just to video shoot us. It depends. But don't expect it to happen in huge scale when here in India there is systematic effort going on to curb hindu festivals.Chandragupta wrote: ↑Wed Mar 21, 2018 5:17 amDo they celebrate Hindu festivals? Go to temples? Food etc are still okay if you can't cook but identity is very important. Kids must know & understand that they are Americans/whatever nationality but they are not Christian. They are American AND Hindu. Nothing wrong with these identities since they do not conflict.
Problem is when even recently migrated Hindus ditch their identity the moment they step foot on foreign soil. I have female friends who became fully Americanized within months of going to US, obviously a lot of fake & put on effort - like accent, dressing & in your face - trying too hard to be MUTU (they will celebrate St. Patricks Day, This day that day, everyday). I pointed female friends because this trait is negligible in males, as per my experience.
Only those Have To kind of hindu rituals will survive, like hindu NRI will not suddenly start burying their deads.
By saying this, I need to emphasis that NRI migrated recently to the west are middleclass kids having less religious exposure. I don't have much hope there. But if you observe Indian community in Malaysia etc who were taken there 100 years back for rubber plantation are more hindus than us hindus and celebrate hindu festivals like ganesh chaturthi with passion.