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Neighborhood news
Student enjoys life in the mainstream
By HELEN ANNE TRAVIS
Published December 22, 2006
Saima Siddiqi and her family put a light-up snowman and reindeer in their front yard. They draped lights from the second story of their house and hung a stuffed snowman on their doorknob. But Saima and her family are Muslim and don't celebrate Christmas. "We decorate because we're Americans," said Siddiqi, 17. Siddiqi's mother was born in India and her father in Pakistan. She likes Harry Potter books and the Indian movie, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The title refers to the feeling of falling in love, she says. In her closet, traditional Indian loose pants and long shirts in rich pinks and greens give way to T-shirts and LEI jeans. Saima feels that her dual-culture world gives her an advantage. "I know a lot more about you than you know about me," she said. At Durant High School, where Saima is embarking on the second half of her senior year, many of the young woman's friends ask for her views on Christmas. "We respect Jesus as a prophet," she tells her friends. "We have no problem with Jesus. We actually like him a lot." The Siddiqis, who live just south of Plant City, have another cause to celebrate over the Christmas holiday. Saima will turn 18 on Dec. 26. When she was born, her mother, Tarannum Siddiqi, spelled out Saima's name and showed it to the nurses at St. Joseph's Women's Hospital in Tampa. She made sure that the nurses could pronounce it easily, for Saima's sake as an American. "It's better to be part of the mainstream than to be isolated," said Tarannum Siddiqi. Saima's parents want their daughter to fit into the world she was born into, but they also want her to know about her family's culture. The Siddiqis watch Indian news and Saima enjoys comparing it to the reports from North America. She visited India and Pakistan with her family when she was younger and can't wait to return. She doesn't know if she could live in either country because of the rights denied to women in some areas. Saima is slated to be the valedictorian of her graduating class. She hopes to become a doctor and work with Doctors Without Borders, a medical humanitarian organization that treats people in more than 70 countries. Helen Anne Travis can be reached at 661-2439 or htravis@sptimes.com. .
[Last modified December 21, 2006, 07:58:51]
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