The holidays are some of my favorite times of the year. As a Hindu, living in a Christian-majority community, I celebrate all sorts of holidays, such as Dussehra, Halloween, Diwali, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

My family and I have our traditions with each holiday, even with holidays that we don’t celebrate religiously. Starting in September/October with Dussehra, we celebrate good over evil by celebrating a famous victory in Hindu mythology.

Around 15 days later, as the new moon appeares, my family and I light candles and decorate our house with lights. We invite groups of our friends and host a party on the third day of Diwali.

Similarly, there are many holidays that my family and I have adopted and incorporated into our season; since my family is from India, my parents didn’t grow up celebrating the most American of holidays: Thanksgiving; however, every year, we make it a point to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and spend time with each other. While our annual choice of foods may not be as traditional such as mashed potatoes or stuffing, we do our best to incorporate this holiday into our calendars and hearts.

Similarly, for Christmas, my family and I have been giving each other gifts for years. Each Christmas brings fun songs and movies, beautiful lights, and exciting annual experiences, such as Christkindlmarkt in Chicago. Even when I lived in India, there was always a tree in our house, and Santa always visited, leaving presents in exchange for cookies.

So, when someone wished me “Merry Christmas!” I would always be excited that this wonderful holiday was right around the corner.

As a young kid, I was lucky to receive an inclusive education that taught us about many celebrations, such as Hannukah and Kwanzaa. I loved learning about different cultures and festivals because it made me feel included in everyone’s lives. The more we learned, the more we were asked to be inclusive — one of the most important ways was saying “Happy Holidays!”

While this phrase is more inclusive, wishing somebody “Merry Christmas!” never personally offended me. I’ve always thought that any season greetings were well-intentioned. They are supposed to bring a smile to your face and warmth to your heart. Whilemore inclusive phrases are available, they all just wish you a good day and share the spirit of the holiday.

Similarly, when I wish my non-Hindu friends “Happy Diwali!” they are excited and share the holiday spirit with me. This phrase has never offended them or made them feel like their traditions were not being celebrated.

Each holiday comes with its feeling of joy and celebration, and it is important that everyone’s holiday and tradition is honored; however, when it comes to the specific saying, I feel that it is more important to be empathetic and understanding of each other. Whether it’s wishing someone “Happy Holidays!”, “Merry Christmas!” or some other saying, we are all trying to celebrate something that means a lot to us and everyone should understand that.