Ahh..We dress up in Saffron colored costumes,Drink Kingfisher,dance to Punjabi remix and we do this Indian Restaurant Hop in this shuttle called Sarin Express

Five hundred years from now, an Indian Hindu visiting America will exclaim: You guys do WHAT during Diwali?!!

I sincerely hope that the flow of folks between India and America continues for a long time and prevents the scenario you outline above from ever coming true.

So I’m curious about all those people who are so thrilled with this idea. How do you feel about Islamic religious police?

We are thrilled about ‘our’ religious police gagging the other guy, and would obviously hate the other guy’s religious police who would want to gag us. What kind of naive question is that? You need to work more to get your head wrapped around this religious thinking thing.

On this day …Hindus here will not cook, work, travel or indulge in sex in a collective attempt to purify

Sounds more like Buddhism to me. It’s interesting to observe how different varieties of Hinduism in the diaspora “freeze” at the state they were when they reached the shores. The above mentioned ritual is a window into 1000 AD version of Hinduism in India.

Five hundred years from now, an Indian Hindu visiting America will exclaim: You guys do WHAT during Diwali?!!

M. Nam

Sure, it might be a long way from Pecalang to Mutaween or the like, but it’s just one slippery slope, isn’t it?

Enforcing this custom, no matter how lovely it is (I don’t think it is, but that’s another issue) essentially is depriving people of a choice.

Because there is gigantic struggle between the forces of good and evil that happens at that point, and silence is required. It’s not just about meditation, any noise damages the communal ritual.

There is a lot of noise and celebrations in the days before to draw evil spirits out. However, during Nyepi:

On this day of the new moon but darkest of all nights Hindus here will not cook, work, travel or indulge in sex in a collective attempt to purify the entire island. There will be no flights into Bali or out on this day and none will pick up the telephone. Shops will remain closed and all streets deserted. No light will be switched on even after the sun has set, as the island involves itself in mass meditation to restore balance between the forces of evil and good. [Link]

Wow, this sounds scarily draconian! Don’t see why one person’s meditation should require another person’s gagging.

that is amazing. I love that idea!

I think it’s a cool idea, too, but I’m a bit ambivalent when it comes to the Pecalang. I’m sure they do help make sure the holiday doesn’t lose popularity. Still, enforcing it that way seems like it wouldn’t always be the best thing.