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Features

Honoring Hindu Festivities


Senior celebrates holidays by mixing personal, family beliefs
There is a fine line
between respecting the
religion and culture, and
just wearing something
from the Hindu tradition
because its considered
cool. Be respectful.
- Senior Nirusha Yogarajah
year, Yogarajah said. We still do
the Christmas thing like lights and
trees, but those arent things that
are part of our culture.
Since she is more used to
American culture, Yogarajah says
that she has developed different
beliefs than her family, however,
she still enjoys the traditional New
Years she celebrates. Each New
Year, her family visits a temple

Thrikawala travels to U.S.


by staff reporter Justin Baham

Having grown up in the


United States, freshman
Randunu Thrikawala often
wondered what his life would
have been like if he had stayed in
Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he
was born.
Thrikawalas parents took
him and his brother and left Sri
Lanka to pursue a better life.
I was only two-years-old
when I moved here to Texas, so
I dont remember much about
Sri Lanka, Thrikawala said.I
do speak Sinhalese [the official
language of Sri Lanka] at home.
Thrikawalas parents lived in
Sri Lanka their entire lives before
deciding to move. They made
the choice to move because they
thought it would be a better
place to live.

Since I have moved here, I


have never been back to visit Sri
Lanka and Im not an expert on
Sri Lankan culture, Thrikawala
said.
I only know what its like to
live in America. But, people do
assume that I am not American
or they think that I am Indian.
According to
Thrikawala, when he
travels to Sri Lanka,
it will be his first
time being there
since he moved.
My family
is planning to
visit Sri Lanka and
Im excited because
it is my first time. I
cant wait to finally
find out more about
Sri Lanka.

by staff reporter Rachel Boone

Q: What would say is different from


your home country to America?
A: My family and I are from a very
small country, really isolated from
everything, sophomore Barbora
Vlastnikova said. Peoples attitudes
are nicer here than they are there. In
Czech Republic, the people mostly
just keep to themselves. Theyre not
super friendly or anything.
Q: What is one favorite aspect that
you enjoy seeing when you visit Czech
Republic?
A: Honestly, I favor the traditional
architecture of my home country. We
refurbish them occasionally, but we
still keep the same art and everything.
One of our oldest [buildings] is the
Pragues church, and one of our
bridges is kept up with a lot old bricks
and stones. Not many people know
about them, so Id want people to keep
our traditions going.
Q: Do you ever go visit your home
country?

and even though Yogarajah may


not believe what her family does,
its still part of her culture and
background.
I dont really celebrate it for the
reasons my family does, but I love
the community that is there at the
temple on New Years, Yogarajah
said. The people are really fun
and nice.
Although Yogarajah wants
people to really understand her
tradition, she says she wants her
peers around her to treat others
with respect. People should not
judge someone elses culture that
they celebrate within their family.
Appreciate not appropriate,
Yogarajah said. There is a fine line
between respecting the religion
and culture, and just wearing
something from the Hindu
tradition because its considered
cool. Be respectful.

Get to Know

Randunu Thrikawala
Name:
Randunu Thrikawala
Grade level: Freshman

Home
country:
Colombo
Languages
spoken:
English,
Sinhalese

Green Card Lottery Opens Opportunity


by staff reporter Jenna Ruiz

Q: How old
were you when
you moved to
America?
A: I actually

moved to
America when
I was four years
old, and that
was through
a green card
lottery, Stephanie
Wibowo said.
My family
actually got
lucky.

Q: How did
you prepare
before moving?
A: My dad
always wanted to
live in America,

The Tamil Background

Not Defined by Hinduism

Q: Did you learn English


the same time as your
native language, Tamil?
A:I started learning
English when I was fouryears-old, sophomore
Vishnu Ananthkumar said.
It wasnt really anything
different for me.
Q: Is there a special
meaning to your name?
What does it mean?

Q: Whats a common stereotype you hear a lot?


A: People are always like Oh, shes smart because shes
Indian, sophomore Neeti Swami said. And Im like,
Well, thats not necessarily true.
Q: Do you have family elsewhere? Do you keep contact
with them?
A: We keep close contact through phone calls. Ive seen
my grandparents only a few times because my mom is
super cautious about going over there [India] since its
really easy to get sick.
Q: Would you say youre different in any way?
A: I consider myself a normal American teenager.

by staff reporter Nayma Villalpando

A: My name is a Hindu
God.
Q: Does your family
operate any differently
than other families you
would know?
A:We dont really do
anything different than
anyone else. Were pretty
much the same.

A: My family and I try to visit often


and every time we go back, Im filled
with nostalgia because I begin to
experience elements of my culture
that I was familiar with as a child like
the food and architecture.
Q: What type of foods do you eat while
there?
A: We have a lot of different food,
like pastries. I kind of miss it. We
would eat this little cake and it had
the appearance of a donut, but it
wasnt. It was always be filled with
a variety of fruits and stuff. I dont
remember what it was called, but I
just know I used to eat all the time
when I was little.
Q: What do people do in your country
when they have celebrations?
A: I love the way we celebrate stuff
because we put a lot of work and
time into decorating everything. Our
country is really small, so we try to
celebrate holidays as much as we can.

by staff reporter Nayma Villalpando

so he enrolled
me into English
classes, Wibowo
said. I actually
learned English
and Indonesian at
the same time.

Q: What made
you want
to come to
America?
A: My dad

What is a green card lottery?


infographic by Rebeccah Macias

A green card lottery is


when 50,000 US resident
visas are given away to
citizens of countries with low
immigration rates, in the way
of a lottery process.

Features

Looking at the twinkling lights


and colors around her, senior
Nirusha Yogarajah celebrates
Vikram Samvat, the Hindu New
Year.
My family sets up a tree
and lights but its really only to
celebrate the American culture.
We are festive, but we celebrate the
Hindu New Years. We believe in
a different God, so it only makes
sense, Yogarajah said.
According to Yogarajah, the
Hindu New Year is filled with
vibrant colors and foods such as
the traditional curry. Not only
does Yogarajah and family love
the traditions, but they manage
to even incorporate their own
traditions as well.
We are pretty traditional, but
my mom does things like give us
money and stuff during the new

Czech It Out

was the reason


we moved to
America because
all he ever wanted
was to be a
successful person
in life, and he felt
like America was
the right place to
start.

The Facts

by staff reporter Shelby Hughes

March 2016 | Prowler

Know

If one receives a visa, one


can move and become a
working permanent resident
of the US.
Eligible countries vary
every year, current
countries that are eligible
(but not limited to) are:

Brazil, Bangladesh,
India, Mexico, Pakistan,
United Kingdom
Source: workpermit.com/us

An Insight to Judaism
by staff reporter Alyssa Ochoa

Q: How does the Hebrew language


compare to English?
A: I speak Hebrew and its really
hard to learn. For starters, you dont
read left to right, you read from right
to left so it was hard getting used
to doing that, junior Brian Stewart
said. There are also certain letters
that are pronounced very differently.
Q: How does your religion affect
you differently than your peers?
A: Judaism limits me from eating

typical things that everyone eats


everyday like meat, cheese and pork
related things.
Q: What are some of the holidays
that you celebrate?
A: My family and I celebrate
Shabbat which is held every Saturday.
We also celebrate Hanukkah every
year during the month of December.
Then, we celebrate Rosh Hashanah,
which is basically considered our
New Year within my culture.

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