For the past seven years, during my stay in the United States, my identity has undergone many transformations.

The journey started with feeling like a foreigner in the USA; the new, nervous kid-on-the-block to a more confident being – one who is proud of his strong connection with Punjabi culture and tradition and, at the same time, ready to be assimilated into a very vibrant and welcoming New York.

In the spirit of the recent holiday season, I wore a knitted green and red sweater with designs of snowmen, Christmas trees, and Santas. I also wore a Santa hat to amuse the children I was working with that day.

Quite casually, I posted a picture of mine with Merry Christmas greetings on my Facebook; and very soon I started getting messages lecturing me about how un-Islamic and pro-American I had become.

The upshot of these unsolicited messages was that it was somehow un-Islamic to participate in Christmas celebrations. I was reminded of the similarly judgmental messages from friends and acquaintances in Pakistan when I posted a picture of the 9/11 Memorial on September 11, 2014 on my Facebook page.

This leaves me a little disconcerted. Why do we have to bring religion in everything and not accept that there are societies where multi-culturalism exists and is preferred?

When I arrived in USA, I was wearing a short kurta over a pair of jeans. I believe my subconscious was making a statement – that the kurta represented an effort to retain my Pakistani identity. I was breaking away from my culture but a part of me wanted to hold on to it.

At the same time, I was more cautious about divulging my Pakistani heritage whenever a stranger or an acquaintance asked me where I was from. It made me uncomfortable and I resented the question.

At times I gave a clear answer, “Pakistan.” On other occasions, I was evasive.

One reason was that each time I would mention Pakistan, people wanted to share everything they had heard on the evening news or read in a newspaper about Pakistani failings.