Festive Occasions Make Me Miss India the Most

The annual Indian (Hindu) festival season begins in July with the Varamahalakshmi Vratha and then continues on till November where there is the big bang of Diwali and then there is a brief lull in celebrations. Then again in January the festival season begins with Sankranti or Pongal and continues on to Rathasapthami, Shivrathri, and on to Ugadi.
Hindus in the United states celebrate these festivals in a different manner adapted to suit the local circumstances. Deep inside every ardent Hindu's heart is this longing to go back to India and I am pretty sure this feeling doubles or triples or even quadruples during festivals. At least for me it happens, there is a general feeling of being lost in an alien land, where money matters more than people, materialistic possessions are more important than your ethics, where individual freedom and happiness is paramount and everything can be sacrificed/ given up to attain it.
Tomorrow is twin festivals of Raksha Bandhan and Upakarma. The former celebrates the brother-sister bond and the latter is when my dad always gave me nuggets of spiritual wisdom. Living in the US I don't have either for the second consecutive time. I guess there will be several more times to come...