Francois Gautier in London

[Guest guest]

Dear List

 

Francois Gautier is in London at the moment and we had an opportunity to hear

him make a presentation at Brent Town Hall on Sunday. He is a very unassuming

person and very focused in his ideas.

 

Some of the issues he raised in his presentation on how Hindus should protect

and promote Hinduism resonates with our own stand and experience in this field.

 

(a) Hindus themselves are the greatest enemies of Hinduism. They are not

bothered about their religion, but then they take the high ground and blame

outsiders if they misportray it. He said, " If you do not care for your own

religion how do you expect the BBC to care for it? They will continue to portray

it the way they like. " The Hindus cannot offer a united front even to tackle an

acceptable common issue like the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits.

 

(b) " Due to the communications revolution, your religion is no longer safe. It

is being wiped away even from the most remotest corners of India. " This part of

his presentation is something that is really worrying. We know that in earlier

times Indian villages resonated with sounds of devotional music, today these

places are blaring away Bollywood music. The danger India faced in earlier times

was from other religions trying to overrun Hinduism. The danger now comes from

this very 'Secular lifestyle' promoted through very powerful and versatile

media. Francois said the only reason why he is concerned is because if 'India

dies so dies spirituality in the world'..... These are the exact words used by

Vivekananda about a hundred years back.

 

© I asked him, " What drives you to bother with Hinduism? " He replied in his

characteristic manner, " Things just kind of fall into place and I end up doing

such work. " The real reason that drives him (we suspect) is the sheer

exasperation he feels towards the manner in which the Hindus themselves are

handling these important issues. He said, " I am not a Hindu so why should I

bother with all these things? " We think he bothers because he is very much a

Hindu - a real Hindu.

 

jay

Vivekananda Centre London