Rachel Carson is an enormous school, and within our school are many diverse cultures. Each culture has their own unique food, language, and holidays. Consequently, we decided to take some of the cultures around our school and tell you about them!

Holi celebrations in Mathura, India

 The Indian culture is one of the most widespread cultures in the world- in addition to most of India’s 1.33 billion population, it has 7.5 million followers around the world.  Some popular festivals include Diwali (the festival of lights), Makar Sankranti (the celebration of the movement of the sun to a different zodiac sign), and Holi (the festival of color). Diwali is usually celebrated between mid-October and mid-November-celebrations typically include prayers, the exchange of gifts between family, fireworks, and a large feast. Makar Sankranti is usually celebrated on January 14th or 15th- celebrations usually consist of rituals and sacrifices to honor gods and loved ones who have passed away. Finally, Holi celebrations usually occur between late February and mid March- they include dances and “coloring” others with colored water or natural powder. Popular food items include various types of meat (excluding beef because cows are considered sacred).Other examples of popular food items include(but aren’t limited to): tandoori chicken( chicken marinated in yogurt and seasoned with a mixture of spice),  biryani (a rice dish traditionally served with spice and meat), and Roti (a flatbread which can come in various forms). India is one of the most populous countries in the world; because of this, many different languages are spoken. Six Indian languages (Hindi, Bengali, Telegu, Marathi, Tamil and Urdu) are among the world’s most widely spoken languages. Cricket, which is similar to American baseball, is the most popular sport in India- because of this, India’s national cricket team has been rated as the best in the world multiple times.

 This is just one culture of the many in our diverse school. We hope you enjoyed learning about this culture by  reading this article!