Author: Ramesh Kallidai
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: July 6, 2004
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/2004/Jul/08/5983_867927,00430014.htm
It started off as two innocent sounding
club-nights at different venues in Leicester that had been marketed as
the buzzword in music and dance - a night that the two different organisers,
Radia and R33CE, had hoped would have Leicester's Indian youth flocking
to it in droves. But instead, they had insults, threats and abuse hurled
at them in heaps.
The two organisers had of course
made one big mistake. In an attempt to be creative, both of them had coincidentally
named the club-night, 'Jagraan' - which, not coincidentally, is also the
name of a religious fast observed for the mother Goddess Durga. What they
had not reckoned with was the increasingly vocal Hindu community in Britain
who latched on to their inappropriate choice of name like dirt to a duster.
The Hindu Dharma Sabha, which describes
itself as a 'large professional organisation of Hindus around the UK with
an aim to pinpoint areas where the Hindu name is tarnished,' immediately
started an email campaign about what it described as an 'insult to Hindus'.
The Hindu Human Rights group, which
has a history of successfully spearheading high-profile campaigns including
the recent one about sacred images on bikinis, posted a protest on its
website. The Leicester Mercury and other local papers picked up the scent
of what was obviously a juicy piece of controversy.
Community leaders were quick in
issuing statements condemning the insult to Durga, and urged the organisers
to change the name of the celebrated evening.
Two days later, Sharon Uttam from
BBC's Sonia Deol Show called me with a request to appear on the show to
comment on the Jagraan controversy. She waxed lyrical about the Jagraan
event as if it had been God's gift to the Asian youth - and went on to
ask me if I thought that the club-night was an innovative way of attracting
the younger generation to religion.
I was flabbergasted and furious
- flabbergasted by the splendid absence of information and insipid abundance
of nonchalance that she displayed without batting an eyelid, and furious
at this indifference to the sensitivities of the community. An event that
was meant only for popular music, alcohol and dance is nothing but a club
night - or as the British say, it's just a gig. And a gig is a gig is a
gig - no amount of name-changing is going to make it look like a peaceful
arati ceremony where the devout sing soothing songs of worship.
Sharon, however, insisted on asking
me if the Hindu temples in Britain were making any attempts to reach out
to the youth. She thought that they prefer going to clubs and probably
find temples quite daunting. She wondered if the Hindu community was able
to communicate to the youth in 'their' language. This opened up a whole
new area that sounded much more relevant and important than even the Jagraan
controversy.
Most Hindu temples in the UK generally
seem to attract a middle- aged or 60-plus clientele usually of the female
variety. Even this clientele is becoming an endangered species at an alarming
rate, while the teenage and mutant species who call themselves BBBs face
virtual extinction on temple premises. A BBB, if you did know, is someone
who is British Born and Bred - the kind of teen of Indian origin who does
not have clue what language his ancestors spoke for the last one thousand
years.
"Going to the temple has never appealed
to me because I believe more in humanitarian service than service to God.
I think this is more important than rituals at the temple," explained Vishal
Thakrar, a 25- year-old graduate, who has recently got a job at the Probation
Services. "Some people may like to go to the gym or go clubbing, but I
prefer going cinema or watching football."
To be fair, there are some sections
of the Hindu community who are highly skilled in reaching out to the youth.
Youth groups from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON),
Swaminarayan Hindu Mission, Chinmaya Mission and others have special programmes
that have attracted thousands of youth to the path of spirituality.
The Chinmaya Mission's youth camps
conducted by Swami Swaroopananda are usually a big hit because they are
interactive and filled with a variety of activities. Last year, their youth
camp attracted 75 youngsters between the ages of 18 and 30 on the theme
'Storm to Perform'.
"The youth at the camp responded
very well," recalled Milen Shah, one of the organisers. "We had morning
meditation sessions, group discussions, role plays, discourses, dramas
and many other activities."
Swami Swaroopanada explained that
Chinmayananda the founder of the Chinmaya Mission had a clear vision on
how to involve and inspire the youth. "He often said that the youth are
not useless, but just used less," he said.
The Pandava Sena, the youth wing
of ISKCON has a phenomenal membership of 7,000 Hindu youth from its eight
UK branches and 20 university societies. They hold weekly or fortnightly
'Jammin' sessions in their branches where Hindu youngsters come for a feast
of music, dance, feasting and interactive discussions.
"We can't provide the youth what
they want unless we understand their nature," said Yuvraj Rana, the young
Chairman of the Pandava Sena. "The youth are much more dynamic, a lot more
enthusiastic, and have very high levels of energy. The youth do not like
to listen to long lectures or attend aratis all the time. They prefer to
learn by doing things."
Pandava Sena activities are varied
and colourful. Every year they have a team of youngsters who build a thirty
foot Ravana effigy that they burn to cinders during their Dussehra festivities.
The fireworks and dramatics that the Pandava Sena stage attract thousands
of youngsters to Bhaktivedanta Manor Hare Krishna temple in Watford. Pandava
Sena also organise workshops, interactive debates and international trips.
In July over 150 youth between the ages of 18 and 25 will be heading off
to an ISKCON farm in Spain where they will engage in sports like indoor
skiing, go-karting, bowling and swimming. These activities will be interspersed
with lectures and interactive workshops with two monks of the Hare Krishna
movement who will fly down specially to inspire the youth.
"And every evening, we will have
lots of music, dancing and good food," said Yuvraj, "It's the same sort
of activities in a club. But the difference is we do it in the service
of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna. We sing devotional songs, we dance, and
we eat sanctified vegetarian food offered to God."
Three years ago, the youth wings
of 30 Hindu organisations successfully came together to form the Hindu
Youth UK.
"The seed for the development of
the HYUK was sown at a lecture organised by the Oxford Centre for Hindu
Studies (OCHS) where elder members of the community were inspired by students
of the Centre," explained Bhavit Mehta, its General Secretary.
Following this, youth from across
the UK organised a nine-day Hindu Youth Festival in September 2001 on a
scale and vision not previously heard of. The festival included evening
activities to celebrate and appreciate the diversity and richness of the
Hindu culture, in combination with the daytime lectures by Pujya Shri Rameshbhai
Oza.
In 2002 and 2003, HYUK organised
high-profile 'Get Connected' youth festivals that attracted high-calibre
youth from the community in an engaging manner. Future projects of the
HYUK include a Hindu Teachers Conference, an Interfaith Retreat, Academic
Research Projects, Annual Sports Tournaments, a Get Connected Extravaganza
in Leicester in August, another Get Connected festival in London later
in 2004 and a National Youth 'Mobi-Fest'.
The irony of the matter is that
the Hindu community in Britain has not yet realised the value of sharing
good practices. The success of these organisations in reaching out to the
youth can be easily replicated and repeated by other organisations. Yet
many organisations are not able to pick up these good practices and learn
from each other. Educating Hindu youth by sharing resources and good practice
is perhaps more important than even shouting hoarse about events like Jagraan.
And by the way, Zanzibar, one of
the Clubs that organised the Jagraan night in Leicester suddenly developed
cold feet on Friday and cancelled the evening. While apologising for any
insult the event may have caused to the Hindu community, Neil Jennings
the General Manager of Zanzibar said, "Previously Jagraan events have been
held at the University of Leicester Students Union complex. My understanding
is that these events were very successful and that no concerns have been
expressed before. Why are they suddenly protesting now?"
Will someone please tell him?
(The author is the General Secretary
of the Hindu Forum of Britain, the largest umbrella body for Hindu organisations
in Britain and a commentator on current affairs.)
