Secular practices for schools

A few days ago, someone circulated a message titled ‘Calendar of Indian Festivals in 2019’ on WhatsApp. Out of sheer curiosity I took a closer look only to realise that it essentially listed just Hindu festivals and only one national holiday — Republic Day. The sender was a long-time friend and a socially aware person who teaches in a premier management school. It could be that he simply forwarded the message without applying his mind or there was a deepset tendency to treat India as Hindu!