Source: www.google.com
UNITED STATES, November 8, 2009: To 12-year-old Suzannah Pabla, piercing her nose was a way to connect with her roots in India. To Suzannah’s school, it was a dress-code violation worthy of a suspension. Suzannah was briefly suspended last month from her public school in Bountiful, Utah, for violating a body-piercing ban. School officials — who noted that nose piercing is an Indian cultural choice, not a religious requirement — compromised and said she could wear a clear, unobtrusive stud in her nose, and Suzannah returned to her seventh-grade class.
To many indians, the incident was emblematic of how it can still be difficult for the American melting pot to absorb certain aspects of their cultural and religious traditions. Sandhya Nankani, who moved to the United States from India at age 12, said religion and culture in India are tightly intertwined. “You can’t make a blanket statement about what Indian culture is, or religion or tradition,” she says.
About 2.6 million people of Indian ancestry, mostly Hindus, live in the United States, including immigrants and natives, according to a 2007 U.S. Census estimate.