New rise of the Hindu

2 May, 2007 l 1816 hrs IST,www.timesofindia.com

Tarun Vijay

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 .


-- Readers Opinion New rise of the Hindu. Tarun Vijay

Name:Name:raj Location:denmark 3 May, 2007 1946hrs IST Comment:Osho has been criticized for a lot of things, but he sometimes hits the nail square on the head. Dividing peple on the basis of religion is the first step towards fundamentalism. The best way to avoid all kinds of discrimination is to make the government strictly secular, without any respect for any public display of religion. The government and its affliaited bodies should totally eschew all forms of any leniency or favour to anybody or anyting in the name of religion. This would forever put to rest all kinds of religious discrimination. Name:suneil Location:iift delhi 3 May, 2007 1158hrs IST Comment:It is a great article by Tarun Vijay. We Hindus need to introspect & do something good for our own brothers/sisters who have been left behind in Indian progress. We must empower them and make them so strong that they are not lured by others and are active participants in progressive India. My suggestion to all fellow Hindus is to devote some time for the upliftment of all downtroden people so that this coutry becomes a great one again and we do not see such a wide gulf in prosperity.


Name:dilip Location:usa 3 May, 2007 0018hrs IST
Comment:The secular government apparatus has declared a war on the Hindu religion. The benefits given to minorities and the clipping of Hindu bhajans in trains, plight of Kashmiri Hindus, takeover of Hindu temples is nothing but a crime. Even the foreign rulers were not so vicious. This is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed quickly. Patience is running out.

Readers Opinion New rise of the Hindu 1 Comment:Very nice article

Name:adsad Location:usa 4 May, 2007 2040hrs IST Comment:Dear Editor, Thanks for publishing this article. Dear Mr. Vijay, this is an excellent article and makes us all proud of our way of life. I am glad english media has published this. Keep up the excellent work. Jayant.

Name:jayant Location:usa 4 May, 2007 2002hrs IST Comment:Excellent Kudos to Tarun Vijay for penning this article. Whatever the 'secular Taliban' may say, Hindus have begun to assert and that is good for humanity at large.

Name:vishvaksenah Location:bangalore 4 May, 2007 1019hrs IST Comment:Due to scribes like you I still have faith in English media otherwise things look so gloomy.

Name:anil kumar Location:canada 4 May, 2007 0728hrs IST Comment:The so-called 'secular' politician blatantly practises minorityism in the name of secularism, thus making a mockery of the word. No 'secular' journalist, howsoever 'seasoned' he may be, has ever questioned this bias against the Hindus in India.The National Commission for Minorities is arbitrarily appropriating more and more privileges for the so-called 'minorities' at the expense of the majority Hindus.There should be a national debate on the issue of 'minorities'. Those who were born and bred in India, who have their roots here, cannot be considered as minorities. Just because the Muslim and Christian invaders 'converted' some locals by force, marriage or rape, how can these sons and daughters of the soil get preferential treatment in a secular democratic state?The Govt is guilty of the policy of 'divide and rule' which they inherited from the British, to keep the people perpetually divided. The present UPA Govt has polarized society on caste and communal lines.The media seems to be blissfully oblivious of these schemes.They have to play a constructive role in nation-building.

Name:vijayalakshmi Location:chennai 4 May, 2007 0012hrs IST Comment:This is an excellent article. It was a great pleasure to read it. Mr. Tarun Vijay has shown his writing capabilites and the research seems exquisite.

Name:raj Location:denmark 3 May, 2007 1946hrs IST Comment:Osho has been criticized for a lot of things, but he sometimes hits the nail square on the head. Dividing peple on the basis of religion is the first step towards fundamentalism. The best way to avoid all kinds of discrimination is to make the government strictly secular, without any respect for any public display of religion. The government and its affliaited bodies should totally eschew all forms of any leniency or favour to anybody or anyting in the name of religion. This would forever put to rest all kinds of religious discrimination.

Name:suneil Location:iift delhi 3 May, 2007 1158hrs IST Comment:It is a great article by Tarun Vijay. We Hindus need to introspect & do something good for our own brothers/sisters who have been left behind in Indian progress. We must empower them and make them so strong that they are not lured by others and are active participants in progressive India. My suggestion to all fellow Hindus is to devote some time for the upliftment of all downtroden people so that this coutry becomes a great one again and we do not see such a wide gulf in prosperity.


Name:shanker Location:mumbai 3 May, 2007 1134hrs IST Comment:The secular government apparatus has declared a war on the Hindu religion. The benefits given to minorities and the clipping of Hindu bhajans in trains, plight of Kashmiri Hindus, takeover of Hindu temples is nothing but a crime. Even the foreign rulers were not so vicious. This is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed quickly. Patience is running out. Name:dilip


Location:usa 3 May, 2007 0018hrs IST Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 12:48 pm Post subject:

Discussion, taken offline from yahoogroups -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In response to Tarun Vijay's article http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/New_rise_of_the_Hindu/articleshow/1993903.cms There were some emails sent to the yahoogroups by the members... However since the group is not intended for discussion, these have not been approved, and they have been taken offline Members are free to express their views about the article, here in this forum, as long as the usual standards of debate are kept Here is one of the responses, pasted below -------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Dr. John T. Eapen" Date: Wed May 9, 2007 11:01 am

Excellent article! Congratulations! There is a saying, the elephant does not know its strength and that is what happend to us Indians. We do not know our strength and our spirituality. I am glad that the author has clearly brought out how the west views Indians as mild people with great inner strength, moving with times. This is what Swami Vivekananda recorded in his writings a centuary ago. Today also it is the same. India has a distinct identity in this world. The word Hindu is always seen as a religion by the west. But the truth is that it is a geographical identity. Unfortunately, out of all countries in the world, only in India the geographical identity and sanatana dharma got mixed up and formed Hinduism. So, let us redefine the word hindu as a geographical identity. That is why I prefer to call myself as a "Christu Bhakt Hindu" than a Christian. This is the message I spread to my fellow Indians and I encourage them to pray in sanskrit language. Let us keep our culture and keep our relationship with God as very personal one. Let us keep away from the gangs, mafias and groups who want to control the world politically in the name of God. After all God is Sovereign and we Indians strongly believe that God does not require any human help to control the world. Para Atma Pithahi Namaha

1 comments:
Ed Vis said...
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. Very well written. Almost all the e-mails I get reflect what you wrote. After Pearl Harbor invasion, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto is quoted as saying "I fear that all we have done is awakened a sleeping giant, and filled him with a terrible resolve." Exactly that is what is happening to Hindus around the globe. "The Sleeping Giant" is finally awaken.
June 13, 2007 11:19 AM