My Home State

My Language

தமிழ்

My Religion

My parents were born in India, but India has many distinct cultures. My parents are both from the South Indian city of Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu. South India is composed mostly of Dravidian people, who have a distinctly different culture compared to people of North India.

I have been to Chennai three times and I enjoy staying with my grandparents and cousins. Chennai is a very hot place, like Houston. Chennai has a beach called the Marina beach, which is the longest beach in India and one of the longest in the world. I have been to this beach several times.

The food in Tamil Nadu typically consists of white rice with some dip. There are also a wide variety of snacks and sweets, a lot of which I really enjoy. One of my favorite south Indian restaurants in Houston is called “Saravanaa Bhavan”. It is a very nice place and I have been there many times.

Tamil is one of the oldest languages that is still spoken today. It is the 20^th most spoken language in the world. I have been taking Tamil classes for the past 4 years. I recently had a test which required us to recite verses written by a great Tamil poet, Thiruvalluvar. He has written 1330 verses and I had to learn thirty of them for a contest in which we had to recite several verses with their meaning.

Last year, I gave a speech about my favorite Tamil holiday, Pongal. It is a farmer’s holiday that is celebrated over 4 days in the harvest season.

I am a Hindu. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world. India is a Hindu-majority country. Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Philippines, Trinidad, Suriname, Fiji, Guyana, and South Africa all have a number of Hindus.

I used to go to a religious class that taught great Indian epics, Hindu poetry, and prayers to god.

There are a number of Hindu temples in Houston. The largest one is called Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland. I visit the temple several times a year and almost always on New Year’s Day and for the biggest Hindu festival called Diwali. The last time I visited the temple was in October.