Forwarded Article - Shraddha inspires (No discussion please)

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I am forwarding this interesting article for those who are interested. This is

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----- Forwarded Message ----

Tarun Vijay <tarun.vijay

umd_samskritam

Monday, May 7, 2007 10:53:45 PM

[umd_samskritam] Shraddha inspires

 

 

Printed from

The Times of India -Breaking news, views. reviews, cricket from across India

 

 

 

New rise of the Hindu

Tarun Vijay

[2 May, 2007 l 1816 hrs IST ]

 

SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates

Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, must be a long place from India's Sanskrit learning

centres and if a " fun-filled " spoken Sanskrit residential camp named Shraddha

(devotion) for teenagers alone gets booked three months in advance, there must

be something extraordinary about it. The interesting part is that the youth who

have grown up in the US and made Sanskrit a part of their daily lives shall

teach at the camp.

 

In China there is a renewed interest to know and learn about Hindu dharma and

when I was there on a fellowship from Sichuan University, the vice-president of

the university asked me to help them understand Hindu movements and write a book

on the contemporary Hindu scene.

 

While the richest steel man of this planet Laxmi Mitttal is a devout Hindu so is

the firebrand icon of entrepreneurial dynamism Anil Ambani , who took 17 friends

on a special jaunt to Kailas Manasarovar , including the charming Adi Godrej

family; and he told me once that his mornings begin with a puja to Ambaji.

 

Hindus are on an unprecedented rise all over the globe and they have startled

the world with their prowess in mathematics, science, technology, industry and

medical sciences. An average Hindu in the West is considered an honest,

persevering, talented and compassionate vegetarian with an extraordinary

capacity to adjust with the local societies and serve the adopted land with

unquestionable loyalty. Hence Vodafone, Citibank, Pepsi have them preside at top

positions.

 

The new Hindu is assertive and sensitive, not aggressive or a silent spectator

to the assaults of the secular Taliban. So he stands up against a Durga being

painted with whiskey bottles in her hands by an Amsterdam ad agency, or a

Ganapati on the toilet cover, and voices strong protest against the destruction

of the ancient Ram Sethu down south.

 

Faithful to his roots yet free from ritualistic blind dogmas, he gets angry at

hypocritical religious behaviour. So while Indira Nooyi would dazzle the

audience in the Ashok Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan receiving the coveted Padma

award in a South silk saree, she may not be an exhibitionist and declare that

she is an ambassador for Hindu dharma or go to a temple in the full glare of the

media.

 

Dharma is a very personal and valuable theme for a modern Hindu, not to be worn

on the sleeve. And to make corrections and improvements is an ongoing process

for every devout that makes his faith – Sanatana , meaning always with the

times, ever-changing yet eternal in its basic message.

 

The message of love, compassion and respecting (not tolerating please, that word

spells negativism) the other viewpoint. That's the attitude and a belief

distinguishing us from the Semitic streams. All roads lead to one God and all

prophets have spoken well for humanity - that's a Hindu speaking at home or in a

congregation without hesitation. He won't mind bowing his head before the

inspiring and the compassionate altar, a picture of Jesus or an Islamic place of

reverence, without compromising his own convictions. That's the reason he hates

the politically-charged groups, parties and so-called ideological war horses,

which have hardly done anything to correct or make amends in the caste-ridden

structure or in the attitude towards women.

 

See the Provoked and decide which society you belong to. The Hindu who worships

Durga during Navratra but kills the same Devi when she arrives in the womb? Or

the Hindu who claims to see Ram in every creature, but refuses to dine with his

co-religionist if he happens to be from a so-called " lower caste " ? Hence the

anger within in the new, real Hindu. Against the loot of the pandas in pilgrim

centres, mismanaged temples and a complete control of the so-called high castes

on every decision-making body of the society.

 

The reservation issue may be a difficult one, but pray who stops the high and

mighty of the Hindu " high caste " to start centres of excellence for their

disadvantaged sections so that they never ever feel the need to use the

reservation ladder? While the stereotype basks in the meaningless repetition of

the old dogmas, the newly-risen Hindu has started working on such development

themes bringing Laxmi and Saraswati on the same platform.

 

For a Hindu, the spread of his vast entrepreneurial empire has to be greeted

with the Gayatri Mantra (Videocon ad) and Vande Mataram (the Kumarmangalam Birla

campaign) but nevertheless the biggest challenge comes from within and not from

outside " enemies " .

 

Job reservation for non-Hindus, the arrest of Shankaracharya on Diwali night and

refusing to execute a non-bailable warrant against the Imam, the temple takeover

spree by the state power, stopping of morning bhajans in trains, subsidy to Haj

and silence on Hindu pilgrimages, biryani for terrorists and no hope for

patriotic Kashmiri Hindus uprooted from their homes in the Valley -- all these

issues make him uneasy.

 

This anger for the inner corrections and a will to excel has given a unique hue

to the new rise of the Hindu which is the only assuring factor in spite of the

cacophony of various interest groups working to confuse the march of the

Sanatana Dharma .

 

The author is the Editor of Panchjanya, a Hindi weekly brought out by the RSS.

The views expressed are his personal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

--

Tarun Vijay

Editor, Panchjanya

Sanskriti Bhawan

Deshbandhu Gupta Marg

New Delhi 110055

Tel. no.-011-23542142 Fax no. -23558613