(RNS) – During the late 1970s in the quiet suburbs of Hamden, Connecticut, the Indian festival of Diwali hardly enjoyed mainstream recognition. For Hindus like Rajeev Pahuja, who was born and raised in that environment, the fall holiday season meant balancing two worlds: football with his peers at school and celebrating Diwali with sparklers and his family privately.
“I didn’t get to celebrate as much when I was a kid,” said Pahuja, adding that he and his sister grew up “pretty strong-minded” as ethnic and religious minorities in the United States. “I am a guy who has lived my whole life as one side being Indian, and then one side being American.”
But in early 2024, emboldened by the seismic growth of the Indian American population in his home state, Pahuja set out to change that for future generations of Indians, Hindus and all those who celebrate Diwali in Connecticut. With no prior experience, the community leader successfully lobbied for the state’s recognition of Diwali as a holiday, this year to be celebrated on Oct. 20.
“We are the basketball capital of the world, we are the pizza capital of the world, and we will become the Diwali capital of the world,” Pahuja said after Connecticut G …