I remember one particular incident in New Zealand that stands out amongst the rest for exactly this reason. As is the case with most, if not all senior Sangh karyakartas there is a tendency to initiate conversations in Hindi. I’d be lying if I said my Hindi is perfect because to be quite frank and honest, it isn’t. I can however rustle together the basics without seeming too much like an NRI (Non Resident Indian). Greetings over, this particular senior karyakarta began talking about Shakha in New Zealand, his own personal Sangh history, the challenges he had faced and various other topics of interest, all in Hindi of course. Then after a full twenty minutes of one way dialogue he asked me a question which I didn’t understand. At this stage, I revealed to him that I was actually from England and therefore my ability to speak Hindi was rather limited. Suddenly his face went from normality to something I can’t even quite describe in words. To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. I remember him putting his cup down in a frenzy and quite literally running into the kitchen. He was so shocked that he had gone to call his wife and two daughters into the room and without a moment’s hesitation he delivered the revelation that I was infact a vistaarak not from India… but from the UK!
I couldn’t understand why he had created such a great scene to highlight something as trivial as this! And to highlight what? The fact that I was from the UK and not from India? Exactly! This stereotypical notion that western Hindu youth lack any sort of real passion to sustain their Hindu identity is one at the forefront of many of our seniors’ minds. And for very good reason at that! The picture that we present of us as a generation isn’t always pretty to say the least. Yet the question we should ask then is what exactly are we doing to change this perception? What efforts are we putting into upholding our Dharma? If we do not heed to the calls of our seniors then I'm afraid there is no hope for us as a faith, nor as a generation. Call me a pessimist you may but this last year has taught me more than anything, that there has never been a greater need to re-energise our youngsters. Don’t get me wrong, there are still thousands of us who are engaged with who we are but there are even more that are slowly drifting away.
We are well versed in academia but what does this matter when we do not have the ability to stop forced conversion of our people, to challenge major companies in the face of what can only be described as absurd misuse of our deities? We forget that it was only some ten to fifteen years ago that our now current senior generation were organising yearly Hindu marathons that attracted thousands! 1984 saw the largest gathering of Hindus at the Viraat Hindu Samelan in Milton keyenes where some 10,000 Hindus came together in a show of strength and unity. Where are we now? We are young, educated and as of yet not able to take the Hindu samaj forward. Speaks volumes really and it is therefore little surprise that we still haven't changed this perception as inactive Hindu youth!
It is time for us to wake up from our slumber. The world needs hard workers and academics but it also needs young men and women to go out and solve the worlds’ problems, to uphold their identity and to give something back to the community we live in.. We worship the feet of Vivekananda and the likes of Shivaji as if none such persons will come along for the next century! Instead of waiting for that person, it is time for us to become that person, to put life into the quotes we preach. 'Be the change you wish to see' we say, well its time we start being that change.
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