tagged ‘covid-19’

A Mehndi ceremony.

How Mehndi Helped Me Embrace My South Asian Roots During the Pandemic

I have a love-hate relationship with Mehndi – a temporary skin decoration applied using henna that originated in ancient India. Henna is associated with positive spirits and good luck in my culture. Many people claim that Mehndi is the way to make the sacred visible to the naked eye, thus offering and receiving blessings from the divine […]

BedrockPerson, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

What a Zoom Funeral Taught me about my Faith

In December 2020, my cousin died. Mourning, particularly in the time of Covid-19, is a complicated affair. Scant few people could attend the funeral, while hundreds attended virtually — including me.   I was on my couch, and the gas in my building had been turned off due to a leak. I was freezing, carrying small […]