An Indian-origin woman purchased the new Mercedes in the US and performed the traditional pooja before driving it in public. The video of this ritual grew quickly online, and proved a cultural tradition will live on and even though families live far from India. It was a point for such people that Sanatana Dharma practice lives on regardless of the geographical location.
The woman, after buying her new luxury car, undertook a small pooja ceremony after buying a new car (prayers, lighting incense and symbolic signs of the car to pray for safety and prosperity). They have been practiced frequently in India when buying a new car, but to do them in other parts of the world tells of how deeply rooted they are in the Indian diaspora.
In Indian culture buying a new car or home is often preceded by a pooja. A ritual is meant to protect the owner and make for a smooth trip and bring good fortune. So although the setting was the United States in an international ceremony, the ceremony itself was as much a home to them as it is home to India.
The video went viral in social media; a lot of people praised the woman for keeping its history going. Some viewers took pride in watching Sanatana Dharma rituals practiced abroad; others appreciated the mixing of the current world with old customs. And some even commented that rituals provide a sense of attachment and belonging (for people on the other end of the world) to their people.
Not only as a car pooja. Cultural practices travel across borders and persist even in different places. So the Indian community abroad, rituals like these aren’t necessarily about faith but it’s also not the same for them. These events serve as a reminder for all of us that things have become okay and can have a certain affinity for us, from a Mercedes (American) to the old rituals done in India.
Hence the Indian woman’s car pooja in the US shows that traditions live forever while there seems not to be let up in the USA. So she celebrated her new Mercedes through a ritual of celebration and blessing and those present were happy for her that even as much in America as the world it was the same to her as how Sanatana Dharma operates in today’s world.
