celebrating Ganesh Puja.

Showing Ganesh Puja, which is

a huge holiday for Indian Hindus,

felt really fun.

And Maitreyi's character, Devi, is brought by her family

to their local high school,

which has been transformed by the local Hindu Association.

So, why are you at this lame fest?

I actually really wanted to come.

To Ganesh Puja,

at a public high school in the Valley?

Are you insane?

Ganesh Puja is really important for a lot of Hindus

because Ganesha himself

is a very important god all over India.

He's known for being the remover of all obstacles,

which I think is very relevant to Devi,

because she has a lot of obstacles in her life.

And I remember writing it

because it's a holiday that I celebrated,

and there's certain things that I really wanted to show

as a kid, like,  you're kind of told,

just follow the group,

then you'll go up to the front,

and you'll offer offerings to Ganesh.

Like, you're sitting there, and a man is saying Sanskrit

that nobody understands,

and you have to repeat it.

Everybody, repeat after me.

Just kidding.

Background.

Action.

For the character of Devi,

it's really important of an episode

because she's finding out who she is in her own identity,

and where she stands with her culture.

You know, for a lot of South Asian youth,

it's hard to figure out

what makes you South Asian enough,

and I feel like Devi's trying to figure out where she belongs.

Some old loser was telling me that I'm too Indian,

and some other people think I'm not Indian enough.

And honestly, all I want to do is eat a doughnut,

but I'm stuck here.

I grew up Indian and Hindu

in a predominantly white community,

and I did not feel comfortable with my Hinduism,

because, you know, it's so overtly colorful,

and it's kind of inherently confident

even when I didn't feel confident,

and I think that the character of Devi, we wanted her to feel

the same way in these surroundings.

This sari is so uncomfortable.

Why does it itch so much?

Itchiness of saris is a rite of passage for Indian women.

Deal with it.

She's going through so much herself as a teenager,

and then to be put in this environment,

where there's other Indian people and Hindu people

who feel so much more comfortable with it,

is unnerving for her.

And so that's why it makes it

such a juicy event to see her at.

Good job. Up here.

Hell yeah.