It’s rather ironic that in a world far from perfect we add to the imperfections with our narrow minded mindset. If the bus is late by ten minutes or there is a tube strike of some sort then rather than just accept the situation and move on, we propel ourselves onto the bandwagon of discontentment. And this unfortunate plight is particularly prevalent amongst our Hindu Samaj. If you present any opportunity for a person from our community to complain, they will take it from you faster than you can imagine and in the process they will obliterate it with a sea of negativity.
In fact to give you an example, I was at one of Auckland’s many Mandirs a few days ago where I came across a well respected gentleman whom I thought I would approach. Now most of my interactions have been generally positive with those whom I meet at the Mandir. However, as I began to interact with this particular gentleman it became evidently clear that he wasn’t one who held the Hindu youth in high regard. In fact he was one of the many, might I add, who felt that the modern day Hindu youth had no concept of what the word Hindu even meant, let alone where we come from! And to be quite frank and honest, I agreed with him! I’m not going to deny that we’re facing a challenge in motivating our youth to become more ‘Hindu’. I’m not going to deny that there are many Hindu youth that have completely lost track of who they are. So I asked him what exactly he was doing about it? What efforts was he putting in to tackle this challenge that has been verily put forth in front us? Nothing. Absolute silence.
Now, I’d like to stress that this wasn’t a debate of any sort. No, not at all. This was a response to a statement. A statement that has been said by many a different person for many a year in many a different arena. In fact the same point was mentioned by one of our supposedly highly respectful leaders at a conference two years ago. He received a similar response and one that emphasised the fact that this should be a joint effort. This is simply not a problem that the youth themselves can deal with, this is OUR problem and the solution will only come when EVERYONE begins to work at it. When Arjuna was perplexed during the Mahabharata, it was Krishna Bhagawan himself that took it upon his shoulders to see that Arjuna saw the right path. The entire 18 chapters and 700 shlokas of the Bhagavad Gita is a testament to that! The point that I’m trying to make is two fold; rather than complaining, let us work harder. Complaining or whining is not the answer. Instead can we use ourselves as a glaring example in the face of the society to manifest this point? Or is this yet another blog post, yet another article that we read and fail to act upon?
The second point highlights the manner in which we silence our critics. The world has utmost respect for the person who proves a doubter wrong but the world would have even more respect for the person who both proves his doubter wrong and is also able to say in the process that his doubter is now his friend. Friendship is more important than a battle of wits and it is friendship that will help us in our cause to unite this society, not ego or power. In the end, if we believe in this concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the whole world is one family), Vishwa Dharma (universal dharma) and Vishwa Shanthi (universal peace), then at some stage our actions have to begin to express these concepts, right?
