The young Hindu is angry and intolerant. What triggered the change?

The Ranas of Amritsar could not tolerate the pro-Khalistani terrorism of the mid-1980s. So they shifted their home and business to Mohali on the outskirts of Chandigarh. Many like them, mainly Hindus, fled from terrorised Punjab to safer places. The exodus of Pandits from Kashmir in the nineties, too, was out of fear. But no longer is the young Hindu willing to run away from the battlefield. And for the first time in Indian history, the Centre has sent advisories to four state governments, three ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, directing them to abide by the Constitution and protect minorities. The advisory is just one step short of Article 355, a rarely used formality before dismissing a state government.

The Hindu's tolerance level is dropping, and today he is an angry man. As head of the poly-trauma ward of Sawai Man Singh Hospital, Jaipur, Dr Rajendra Chaturvedi attends to victims of riots, accidents and domestic violence. But the May 13 blasts changed him. "There were more than 60 casualties," he said. "Healthy men bled to death in minutes." The Brahmin now sports a tilak and speaks out against Islamic terror.On September 13, death visited Rajiv Chowk, New Delhi. Sumeet, owner of a popular DVD shop in Palika Bazaar, was sending SMSes to loyal clients about the new titles in stock when the bombs went off. "Who would not get angry? But we were not scared. We are ready to fight them whoever they are," he said.

Terror campaigns irk the average Hindu. "Delaying Afzal Guru's hanging [in the Parliament attack case] sends out the signal that the government is unwilling to act on terror," said M.L. Gupta, a Jaipur blasts survivor. The sentiment was echoed by Rajinder Singh Shekhawat, a taxi driver who witnessed the explosion at Jaipur's Badi Chaupad. "Hindus have many enemies. The biggest one is terrorism, condoned by a corrupt government," he said.

Pankaj Singh, 30, executive member of the BJP Uttar Pradesh unit, said, "The feeling is that Hindus are branded communal if they refuse to tolerate terrorism, infiltration and loss of educational and economic opportunities." Youngsters who went to Azamgarh to protest the attack on Gorakhpur MP, Yogi Aditya Nath, felt the same way.

Bangalore-based entrepreneur Savitri Shanker (name changed) said she was annoyed by reports of Hindus baptising their children for securing admissions in Christian schools and colleges. She also talked of her help's cancer-stricken relative who was taken to a hospice. The hospice management promised the family free treatment and other benefits if they would convert. The family refused and admitted the patient in a hospital. Shanker is "sad, but not surprised" by the rampage against churches in Karnataka and Orissa.

Perhaps the young Hindu's knee-jerk reaction has been triggered by the change in circumstances. Pavitra and Kunal (names changed), a Bangalore-based couple, said that their views had changed since their college days seven years ago. Said Pavitra, 26: "We had many Muslim classmates who were close friends. They looked and dressed like us. Now they have begun to wear their Muslim identity on their sleeve. We are not able to laugh at the same jokes and there is a bit of tension when we meet."

Kunal said: "After the bomb blasts, there was definitely an awkwardness on our part. And when we hear of them getting preferential quotas, it hurts." The couple said they still would "not look away if we see them". But they are thinking of volunteering for or contributing to a pro-Hindu organisation. They asked, "If it is OK for others to affirm their religion, is it wrong for us to do the same?"

Fears that were confined to the minority communities are now surfacing among upwardly mobile Hindus. Said businesswoman Anita Vasanth, 48: "It's about wanting India for all of us Indians. To get minority votes politicians are doing so many things at my cost. Don't thwart me to make others grow; it leads to heartburn and more."

While such thoughts and behavioural shifts are seen across the country, unorganised and spontaneous hit-backs have been relatively few. But it is a matter of time before that happens, said a senior BJP leader who did not wish to be named. "We are sitting on a time bomb," he said. "It [the backlash] can happen any time. It is just that there is no pro-Hindu political party." What about the BJP? "Who says the BJP is pro-Hindu?" he asked. "What has the party done for the Hindus? The BJP has taken up the issue of minority appeasement to make a vote bank of those opposed to such appeasement." He said if Hindus had seen the BJP as pro-Hindu, the party would have got more than 400 seats in the post-Ayodhya Lok Sabha polls.

Veteran journalist and Prasar Bharati Board chairman M.V. Kamath said that a Hindu awakening had occurred, and he attributes the BJP victory in Karnataka to "the constant and irritating stress on secularism at the cost of Hindu sensitivity." Vinayak Deshpande who oversees the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's operations in north India said that Hindus were defenceless in facing the cultural attack from the west, and the religious attacks from missionaries and terrorists. He said the larger Hindu community should plan and combat those problems. But Hindu leaders know too well that anti-terror anger is not a strong enough glue to bind the majority community.

But somewhere along the line, the innocent Muslim has been tarred with the terrorism brush, especially in places like Gujarat. In Ahmedabad, it is difficult for a Muslim to rent a house in a posh or Hindu-dominated area. Many think that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is currently keeping quiet because he wants an image makeover.The Orissa situation is still tense with reports of Christians being reconverted doing the rounds. Sadly, the Sangh parivar has nothing against forcible reconversion. A shocking report from Kandhamal district says that pimps from Bhubaneswar have picked up many girls from riot-affected families.

The changing equations and fading tolerance are worrisome and fraught with danger. "There are already a large number of anti-Muslim atrocities across the country. Innocent Muslims who have been living in Jaipur for decades have been hounded out of their homes by cops," said Kavita Srivastava of People's Union for Civil Liberties, Jaipur. Jaipur's cultural icon B.B. Bhasin said that the Sangh parivar's attempts to feed on the angry Hindu should be nipped in the bud. "We must condemn attempts by the VHP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to capitalise on the anger and frustration," Bhasin said. This is just what the UPA government attempted to do last week when it sent out advisories to the states.

Source: The Week

Hindu priest shortage spurs women to take up profession

Fewer men choosing religious service
Amid the noise and bustle of downtown Chicago, the groom rode a white horse, shaking to Indian drumbeats in procession to the Palmer House Hilton hotel.

Inside, the bride and groom took seats under thered mandap, or wedding canopy, and the priest began chanting in a high, melodic voice.

For some, the chants heard at the service last month sounded like a break from Hindu custom. Priests are traditionally men, but the presiding priest at this wedding was Shashi Tandon, a respected female elder in the Hindu community and the groom's grandmother.

Since emigrating from New Delhi in 1982, Tandon has presided over countless religious ceremonies for Hindu families in Chicago, Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, filling a void that has emerged because of a shortage of Hindu priests.

As more Hindu men enter more lucrative, secular professions, Tandon and a handful of Hindu women in America have begun performing priestly duties as a way of passing their faith to the next generation.

There is nothing in Hindu scripture that bars women from becoming priests, also known as pandits.

But in some parts of India and the U.S., women priests face resistance from conservative Hindus clinging to tradition. Tandon, 68, a retired teacher with a feisty attitude, recalled a group of men mocking her at one wedding she performed. They asked, How can a woman be a priest?

"I said to them, 'I have a question for you. Can you tell me who gave birth to you?' " she said. "The mother is the true priest. She is the true teacher, the first teacher of the child."

Neelima Shukla-Bhatt, a South Asian studies professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, said more Hindu women are learning priestly functions not necessarily because they feel drawn to religious life. Rather, women—including Shukla-Bhatt—are stepping forward to meet the growing Hindu community's needs.

According to the American Religious Identification Survey, there were about 227,000 Hindus in the U.S. in 1990, composed mainly of Asian Indians. Today there are more than 1 million Hindus in the U.S. and more than 700 Hindu mandirs, or temples. The Chicago area is home to some 80,000 Hindus, according to a Chicago-based interfaith research group.

Although no firm numbers exist, Shukla-Bhatt said fewer Hindu-American men are becoming priests. In her own family, she noted that her father's cousins were all priests, yet none of their children took up the profession.

"At one time, it was considered prestigious, but now it is not considered prestigious at all," she said. "If you are educated, you do something more secular. It is considered to be a sign of less educated, less sophisticated, so not many educated people are interested in becoming priests.

"Shukla-Bhatt said many of the earliest Hindu texts speak of women priests. In Hinduism's most ancient book, the Vedas, there are multiple references to women making sacrifices and participating in philosophical debates. But, at some point, things changed.

"It's not that women weren't allowed to do this. It's that somewhere along the line, it got lost, and it became mainly a male profession," she said. "But in the most ancient scriptures, there were women priests. So, we should reclaim that.

"Tandon's grandson, Nitin Malhotra, said having his grandmother perform his wedding last month was an obvious choice. As a child, Malhotra said his grandmother taught him the importance of faith and puja in daily life.

Puja is a sacred ritual that involves fire, bells and chanted prayers to deities. Her fluency in English and Sanskrit, and her vivid explanations of religious rituals are the main reasons that Tandon gained widespread popularity in the Hindu community.

"She taught us how to do puja and chants. And, she explains everything so well that you never felt like it was a chore," Malhotra said. "All these people know about her and fly her to different places to do their ceremonies. We feel really blessed to have her.

"Tandon was born in Multan, which was then in India, and raised in New Delhi. Her mother taught her how to do daily fire rituals. She concedes that she didn't like it very much at first. However, once she learned the meaning, she felt a desire to be a priest. She studied in an ashram, learned the scriptures and received training to perform all 16 samskaras, the sacraments or rites of passage for every Hindu. Later, she opened a school for poor girls to teach them the Hindu faith.

"I would sit under a big tree and teach them how to respect each other, help society, how to read scripture. I felt this was my calling," she said.

Her three children married and immigrated to Chicago, where Tandon joined them. Recently, she moved to Kalamazoo, Mich., to live with her son, Arun Tandon, and daughter, Renu Sharma. Another daughter, Anu Malhotra, lives in Naperville.

In explaining her mother's role as a priest, Sharma said: "It's not a profession for her. She doesn't do this for money. It's part of who she is as a being.

"In India, the concept of women priests is not new. In fact, in the progressive western city of Pune, there are two schools that train women.

However, those in other regions say female priests are a violation of Vedic law. Some Hindu immigrants from those regions who have come to the U.S. have been shocked to find women performing religious rituals. Anu Malhotra said her daughter-in-law's family, who are from Gujarat, were surprised when told the wedding would be performed by Tandon.

"In India, each state has its own culture. So for many Hindus, this is a new thing," she said. "People don't see it as much. It's not the norm.

"As more women come forward, they have begun to gain appreciation and respect, especially among second-generation Hindu-Americans.

Tandon believes many women are losing touch with their religion and are not passing traditions to their children.

"Mothers came to America because they didn't have enough freedom. Then, after getting freedom, they forgot their culture," she said. "They are not doing prayers because they don't know why they need to do them.

"For that reason, Tandon is training her two daughters to perform religious ceremonies. At some point, the community's growth could lead to the creation of a school for women priests. Until then, she said she will continue to perform services, educating future generations on the rituals and their meaning.

"Every single step of worship has a meaning. Do you know why we use fire? Some Hindus don't even know," she said. "Fire gives us light and for us, light is truth."

source: chicagotribune

Rashtra Sevika Samiti to expand work in rural areas

A concrete initiative for women empowerment

Most people know the Rashtra Sevika Samiti as another organisation fighting for the cause of women. But it is different to other women outfits. It has started various service projects across the country to extend concrete support to the needy women. The Samiti runs Samskar Kendras, literacy centres, health awareness and counseling centres, homeopathy and Ayurveda health centres, cutting tailoring centres and hostels.

According to Smt. Chitra Joshi, senior activist of the Samiti, the Samiti runs 20 hostels exclusively for women in different parts of the country. Four of them are for the girls of the north-east. Vanvasi Kanya Chhatravas of Nagpur run by Devi Ahalyabai Smarak Samiti is for Vanvasi girls of the north-east. A total of 44 girls from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura are there in this hostel. Vandaniya Tai Apate Kanya Chhatravas, Nanded, is for the girls of Meghalaya. The third hostel in Bangalore is for the girls of Karnataka and the fourth hostel, Rani Ma Gaudinlu Kanya Chhatravas, is in Haflang.

Tejasvini Kanya Chhatravas, Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh), is for the girls of leprosy-affected people. Yashasvini Kanya Chhatravas has the girls from Naxal-affected areas of Bastar and Raipur. Bharatiya Shri Vidyaniketan, Jabalpur, runs a hostel (Rukmani Kanya Chhatravas) at Aluva of Kerala for Vanvasi girls and a hostel is run at Nagarkovil in Tamil Nadu for the tsunami-affected girls. The girls from Naxal-affected areas of Jagatyal are studying at the Nivedita Kanya Chhatravas in Andhra Pradesh. The Rudramma trust has the college going girls. Tejaswini Kanya Chhatravas at Yavatmal is for the girls of nomadic Vanavasi communities. There is Maitrai hostel in Chandrapur where the Ujjawala Mandal Kalyan and Bharatiya Stri Jivan Vikas Parishad, Mahim, have made arrangements for providing nursing training to those Vanvasi girls. The Saraswati Sindhu Kanya Chhatravas in Jalandhar (Punjab) is for the girls from Leh-Laddakh. Most of the girls here are Buddhists. Mata Gujari Chhatravas is in Patiala. There is a hostel in Jammu for the terrorism-affected girls. It is completely managed by women.

These hostels not only have arrangements for the study but also efforts are made for their all-round development. They are taught yogasans, painting, music, dance, etc. They are also encouraged to appear in different exams. Since they are all away from their families, they all are properly taken care of by the activists. Saraswate Kaka of Konkan helps the girls of Haflang hostel in their preparation for their exams. They are also provided many kinds of vocational training. Training of Panchopchar pooja is imparted at the hostel in Karnataka.

The project run at the Agaria basti in Jamnagar (Gujarat) is also unique. This basti is situated near the coast of the sea. The people working in the mines of salt work over night as it is difficult to work in salt during daytime. Since they work the whole night they sleep in the day and they are not able to pay attention to their children. The Sevika Samiti workers run Samskar Kendras for those children.

Sevika Samiti to expand work in rural areas

Rashtra Sevika Samiti has decided to expand the organisation’s work in rural areas. For this objective, this year has been declared a Sanjivani Varsha and the Samiti has adopted 155 villages in the country. Special emphasis would be laid on security of women, health, Samskar and education in these villages. Enumerating on the special project at the concluding ceremony of a training camp held in Delhi. Smt. Rekha Raje, Akhil Bharatiya Sewa Pramukh of the Samiti, called upon the activists to develop a good network of dedicated workers in the rural areas. The concluding ceremony was presided over by Smt Rekha Pande, an advocate of Supreme Court.

Smt Rekha Pande said that the more the Samiti work spreads, the more the country would make progress. She pointed out that the Samiti has started a number of welfare projects for women across the country. Besides other projects the Samiti presently runs 22 hostels in different parts of the country.

Source: Organiser

RSS launches `high-tech shakhas'

The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the parent organisation of a host of saffron outfits, has realised what advertising and marketing companies all over the world have already discovered — that unless you appeal to a younger, more professional demography, you cannot grow.

With a view to this, the RSS has introduced what are called Information Technology Milan Shakhas to propagate the RSS credo among young IT professionals. The first such ‘shakha', or outreach programme for IT professionals, was held in Bangalore in 2003-04, and slowly spread to IT hubs across the country to become a 100-strong network. "These shakhas exist in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Kolkata and even Delhi," said an RSS office-bearer. However, these shakhas mark a departure from the traditional shakhas of the RSS that comprise of calisthenics and exercises in the open.

"The meetings are usually held in a hall or an enclosed space where these exercises cannot take place. We usually have a session of yoga or ‘pranayam' or ‘surya namaskar' instead. Also, we use PowerPoint presentations in place of lectures, since the target audience is comfortable with the use of that technology," said an office-bearer.

"For obvious reasons, Bangalore has seen a big success as far as the IT shakhas are concerned. We also have a presence in Kolkata, where, however, we have only two functioning shakhas," said the office-bearer.
Source: Business Standard

Imams back Advani on Ram Mandir issue

Imams have thrown in their weight behind Advani saying his formula would "only establish permanent fraternal bonds between the two major communities of India". "And, in that case, as a society, we shall also experience and cherish unprecedented communal amity and harmony," the All India Organisation of Imams of Mosques (AIOIM) wrote in a letter to the Leader of the Opposition. AIOIM is the representative body of over five lakh Imams across the country.

"Under your leadership/prime ministership we, as a nation, will march towards our common destiny with a new moral and political strength," AIOIM secretary general Maulana Umer Ahmed Ilyasi told Advani on Sunday. Incidentally, Advani told his party, earlier this month, to reach out to Muslims and Christians who have been out of party's traditional support base.

When the Centre is battling for survival, AIOIM has put up five 'open questions': 1. Who can be the alternative? What are the options available before the masses? 2. If UPA and its constituents have failed to deliver what initiative is required to be taken by the NDA? 3. Is there a specific need to make Muslim backwardness an issue to target 'secular politics' and its negative fallout on community? 4. Are Muslims ready to make a shift? 5. How Imams of Mosque and their organisation can facilitate the required transformation?

The AIOIM answers them all. "The BJP and its allies can be the alternative provided common issues are highlighted. Social and economic issues are targeted. Communal issues are not focused."

It suggested the NDA to make a very strong peoples' movement against the Government of the day on its failure to check rise in prices of essential commodities. "Next election is neither on passion nor on development. It is simply on inflation and its impact on the men on streets," said AIOIM.

Imams believe there is a need to 'expose' the pseudo-secular face of the Congress and its allies, but when it comes to whether Muslims are ready to make a shift or not, they say it will all depend on the face of future politics of the NDA.

At the same time, they appealed, it was like now or never and this was the most opportune time to bring about such a shift. "After many elections, it will now be an election on common issues," Ilyasi wrote in his letter to Advani.

The Imams unveiled a 12-point agenda (including better relations with Muslim countries, non-interference in Personal Law, computerisation of Madarsa education and others) that, if achieved, would help them facilitate the required transformation. Source: dailypioneer

Indian scientists believe in god and karma

Indian scientists are making rapid advances in their respective fields but when it comes to god, one in four is a firm believer and many more accept the existence of a “higher power.”

A survey of 1,100 scientists across 130 universities and research institutes across the country threw up interesting results as 29 per cent believed in the philosophy of ‘karma’, 26 per cent accepted the principle of life after death and seven per cent researchers gave credence to the existence of ghosts.

A survey, by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture of Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut and the Hyderabad based Centre for Inquiry, found that religion and faith had deep roots in the minds of Indian scientists.

An amazing 64 per cent scientists said they would refuse to design biological weapons because of their moral and religious beliefs, while 54 per cent said they will not work on nuclear weapons for the same reasons.

As many as 93 per cent researchers defined secularism as tolerance for various religions and philosophies, while only a minority of scientists said it meant atheism.

In 2005, space scientists had travelled to Tirupati to seek the blessings of Lord Venkateswara before launching the rocket and satellite. Forty one per cent of scientists surveyed approved this religious endorsement of a space project.

However, the level of disapproval of religious intervention in such scientific activity was also high: as many as 33 per cent scientists disapproved of it strongly. Only 14 per cent approved. The scientists are most likely to regard their personal outlook as “secular” or “somewhat secular”.

One fourth of the total scientists surveyed were firm believers while another fourth described themselves as either atheists or agnostics.

Source: Newindpress

Beware of Fake Swamis and Hindu God Men

Fake Hindu swamis, sanyasis, babas, gurus and godmen thrive in a society which lacks awareness about the true essence of Hindu spirituality. Therefore Hindus and other sections of the society which provide the opportunity and fertile ground for fraudsters to thrive in the name of Hinduism are equally at fault. No fake swami can survive without ignorant and fortune-seeking followers.

The Bhagavad Gita which narrates the essence of Hindu spirituality contains only 700 verses. There are excellent translation and commentary of Bhagavad Gita which cost less than 100 rupees. But majority of the Hindus have no time to read the 700 verses but spend money, energy and time visiting ashrams and spiritual centers of such fake babas and gurus.

If you make this an issue, immediately comes the answer, Bhagavad Gita is hard to digest for common people like us, we are ignorant. It is for the common people that the learned men of yesteryears have translated the Gita into all regional languages. They have provided excellent translations and have interpreted the great dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna into the simplest language.

Is not understanding Gita the real issue? NO

The real issue is that Gita doesn’t talk about methods to become super rich overnight. Neither do Gita have mantras to find treasures hidden underground or to get promotions or provide miracle cure to diseases. Gita also does not recommend pujas to destroy your enemies. And above all Gita does not predict the future.

But the fake swamis and godmen only talk about future, money and predictions, pujas and innumerable homams to cure diseases where medical science has failed. Sadly, this is what many Hindus want to hear.

Daily we get to hear about such fake swamis and their notorious activities – which include rape, amassing wealth through dishonorable means – but this has not deterred many Hindus from approaching fraudsters. But, why?

Both the fake Godmen and his followers are fortune seekers. Godmen is using religion to become rich and conduct other antisocial activities. Followers are fortune seekers who want the help of an outside agency to reach God and bribe God and amass wealth and know future.

Shri Krishna never fought for Arjuna. Arjuna had to do all the fighting in Kurukshetra. The ultimate truth that we have to do our work and no God will come to do it is not still acceptable to many.

A true Sanyasi will never advertise. He/She is like a flower. People reach them following the fragrance. They will not even bother to talk to fortune-seekers. Silence is there best weapon which frustrate most fortune seekers in minutes. They might open up the knowledge treasure to a genuine seeker whom a true Sanyasi will easily identify – just like Ramakrishna identified Vivekananda.

No Sanyasi or Godmen has said anything new that is not found in the Upanishads, Gita, Ramayana, Yoga Vasishta and Mahabharata. All these texts are readily available in the market. Pick any of these Holy Scriptures and read a few pages daily. Soon we will realize the futility of going to such fake gurus.

Hinduism believes in individual self realization and not borrowed or rented or bought self realization. Always remember the Brahman that resides in the most respected guru or spiritual leader also resides in us. The only difference is that we have not bothered to realize it.

If we are falling into the trap of fake Sanyasis and Godmen, it is our fault. And if you find that a swami is fake, never hesitate to report it to the authorities. Such fake swamis and Godmen should not find protection in Hindu religion.

Source: Hindu Blog