It was our Sunday Tradition. After our weekly Balavihar Classes(Hindu Sunday School), we would grab lunch at In-In-Out. Hell, it was the only reason I wanted to go to Balavihar. Even though we were forced to wear uncomfortable clothes, that forced us to live with unbearable itchiness for around 2 hours, a delicious burger with crispy, salty fries garnished with cold sweet ketchup, served with a cold, sweet, bubbly soda from In-In-Out made it all worth it. However, even though I was to young to recognize it, a major event occurred that changed the mentality of my country. This event was 9/11.
All of a sudden, in the eyes of many Americans, my beliefs and color categorized me as a terrorist. Every time we went out in Indian clothes, people scorned at us, whispered things to their partners, and quickly walked away from us. My religious beliefs were held against me. But why was this? Even though the attack on the twin towers was orchestrated by radical islamics, people associated Hinduism with radical Islam, leading an ignorant person to categorize me and my family as terrorists. We thought this was a faze. However, even months after this tragic event, people who saw my father at work held up a fist at him, in a menacing and threatening way. While this upfront became much more subtle and systematic over the years, it the events following 9/11 made me realize something. To some, my religious beliefs, the ones that dictate all of my common morals and guide me through my life, categorize me as a terrorist.
