September 1994

My Turn

By Kumar Setty

I would like to point out a very disturbing and increasingly common trend: the denial of Hinduism by Hindus. Have any of you out there ever wondered why when Hindus are asked questions by non-Hindus that they get lock-jaw, and they aren't able to give good answers? One consequence of this is embarrassment and self-resentment. If we can't answer the simple questions or correct the inaccurate assumptions of non-Hindus, how are we supposed to answer our children or the next generation? I can guarantee that brutal questions will be asked and good answers will be demanded. What will we do? Shall we compromise our beliefs? Shall we look to other religions? I sure hope not!

There has to be a lot of self-sacrifice and a laser-like focus devoted to addressing questions concerning our rituals, our Vedanta and our culture. We don't seem to be listening to our children. Hindu kids are bored to death! They don't know the glory or the insight of our ancestors! I have only tasted the timeless wisdom of our holy books, and I crave more. I find an increasing number of Hindu children who can get 1400s on the SATs but they don't even consider why Krishna told Arjuna to get up and fight-to consume the foe! Our kids are starving. We must nourish them. Our religion has become too "uncool" for many Hindus. It cramps our style. Our culture is becoming increasingly foreign and "weird." The chants, bhajans and the mantras are too weird. Our rituals are not quite Western enough...too many gods and goddesses-too weird; worshipping cows-too weird; half-naked priests, ash-laden foreheads-way too weird!

The moral of this exercise is: Hindu kids are compromising their ideas, their modes of thought, their rituals and their myths in order to conform to the mold of the Western religions. The final nail in the coffin is to compromise themselves. After we Westernize our fundamental beliefs, maybe we can change our names? Saraswati will become "Sarah" and Dev will become "David," and without firing a single shot, the Hindu genocide will be complete. Hindus abroad mistakenly judge Hinduism using Western criteria of "normality" or "propriety," when in fact they should be using criteria based on precepts of Eastern religions. When they begin to use the right criteria, the rituals all of a sudden aren't so "weird." The most ironic thing is that our Vedic-Hindu culture is the oldest existing culture on the planet, and so many Hindus are looking to younger Western religions in order to validate their own personal beliefs! How did that happen?

This tremendous inferiority complex of Hindus has taken its grip only because Hindus don't have the billion-dollar media resources that Western religions possess. I propose the creation of endowed chairs in Hindu/Sanskritic studies in American universities. These endowed chairs would be self-perpetuating. It is very important to attract the best talent to teach the classes and to do the research. The only requirement for recruiting the first-round draft picks is money. In my undergraduate school, I took several classes in Hinduism from a fantastic professor. His classes were the most popular classes on campus. He has won numerous teaching awards. Most of the class was non-Hindu. It felt wonderful to see non-Hindus working so hard to see the world through a Hindu perspective. Many of these non-Hindus (hundreds of them) will now grow up with a broader and more sensitive view of our faith. This is a wonderful way to convey Hinduism to outsiders and especially to Hindus. We must use the institutions in this country, just like every other religious group has done, in order to preserve our faith. I encourage all Hindus to inquire about creating endowed chairs in universities, viz. cost, procedures and tenure.

No one is going to help us. Darwinism applies in all walks of life: only the best-fit survive. Personally, I don't want to be the forebear of a decaying or dead religion. We owe it to those who came before us and to those who will come after us to keep our covenant by ensuring continuity and peaceful diffusion of our faith.

Kumar Setty, age 24, was born in Andhra Pradesh and is now a chemical engineer in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys reading the Upanishads and Gita...and fencing!