I have a half-Indian, half-Scottish character named Niraj Ajit Sonar (Ajit being his father’s name) born in Scotland. His father is Marathi and immigrated to Scotland, while his mother is white. I’m mostly confident this name makes sense, but thought I should check anyway. My primary concern with this character is showing that he is a practicing Hindu when the story takes place in a boarding school. Beyond him going home for certain important holidays, how might he practice on a daily basis?
The Obvious:
- If he’s had a thread ceremony, you could show that he wears it under his clothes at all times. Many Hindu boys tend to have a thread ceremony performed before they are 16.
- He might be used to taking his shoes off in his dorm room, as many diaspora South Asians do at home (The American/ British habit of wearing shoes at home still puzzles me to this day, given their preference for carpeting).
The Less Obvious:
- Whether or not he chooses to be vegetarian depends on his personal convictions, his family and also his assimilation within the UK, but as a Brahmin who openly consumes and prepares beef, even I have a certain level of guilt about consuming beef, so that’s another cue that communal dining in boarding schools might offer. I can imagine lots of family tension around meals at home where the father has issues with beef that the mother’s family just doesn’t understand (This is heavily pulled from my own life). I’ve made the mistake of almost eating beef in front my Hindu relatives when they come to visit and oof.
- Sonar/ Sunar is a goldsmithing last name, so it might be fun to have relatives back in India sending him jewelry (like gold chains) or metal statues of Ganesha or Saraswati (For luck and studies) that he debates over bringing to school. It’s very typical for South Asian relatives who can afford it to send gold jewelry to favored children as gold is perceived as protective in many South Asian cultures. More practically, gold is a highly liquid asset in India. Explaining to my family that I couldn’t possibly wear the elaborate jewelry they sent me in a Western environment or the risks of displaying a sterling silver statue of Ganesha in my dorm room was a particular struggle growing up, but in this case, it could serve as a subtle nod to his caste background as well. In my case, I abandoned the silver Ganesha statue, but I did keep a prayer altar in my room that I offered incense to on a regular basis. Thankfully, my roommates had no issue, but California is also very strict about the protection of religious expression.
Coding Hinduism in British Environments
I think the best way to code his Hinduism is frankly to explore the tensions that the climate of traditional Briish boarding schools/ Oxford/ Cambridge type can provoke for people from former colonies. This struggle strikes me as largely consistent with his Scottish/ Gaelic roots, particularly if he grew up speaking any form of Scots. For all the social mobility opportunities they offer, British boarding schools present real challenges to a person engaged with their non-British heritage. He’ll hear a lot of views on colonialism and his father’s culture (arranged marriages, dietary restrictions, stereotypes, pro-British sentiment, etc.) that directly conflict with his parents’ relatives’ stances in borderline offensive ways (Particularly for the Indian side). Even geography lessons could be a potential trigger. Starting from when I was a kid, states like Maharashtra started replacing the British names for regions and cities with their pre-British names (Did anyone wonder why Bombay, Madras and Calcutta became Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata overnight?).
I recommend talking to people of mixed desi heritage living in the UK about their experiences with British racism and xenophobia. Tiktok has a lot of great “POC at Hogwarts” clips that skewer British parochialism with great flair.
– Marika.
He might practice by praying to an idol he brought with him, or wear an elephant necklace. It doesn’t have to be an expensive metal, for the reasons that Marika mentioned. That’s what my dad would do. Mom says he would get up at five AM every day and pray while working as an oncologist.
– Jaya
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