SARATOGA, CALIFORNIA, May 30, 2005: Sixth and seventh grade students in California are required to study world religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and others as part of the state’s educational program. Studying world religions should make students from all kinds of backgrounds aware of the philosophy and culture inherent in each of the world’s great religions. However, Mona Vijaykar, a Saratoga mom, has found out that religions such as Hinduism are often misrepresented in key educational textbooks. Vijaykar first encountered the problem when her son’s school teacher invited her to do a presentation for the class that would supplement what the students were already studying about. Vijaykar says, “I was outraged by a handout on various forms of the Hindu God. The handout — produced by Teacher Created Materials, an education publishing company in Westminster — listed Parvati as a Goddess who is ‘chief of all of the elves’ that roam the Earth. They might as well be talking about fairies in a fairy tale. It makes the religion sound silly and stupid. And it’s plain wrong.”
In addition, the state Department of Education has recommended a book called “Homeless Bird” by Gloria Whelan as a resource material to explain Hindu culture. Vijaykar explains her concerns about this book, “The book has a scene describing Indians at a religious festival playing with colors made of urine and cow dung. It’s disgusting. How do you think the Indian students in the room feel when they read this book? They know it’s wrong, but how can they challenge a book with such authority? The book also reinforces stereotypes: a girl forced into an arranged marriage at 13 and required by her in-laws to work like a slave. It makes you think the caste system and arranged marriages are all this rich ancient culture has accomplished throughout the centuries.”
Diane Eck, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard University, says, “Teachers who may not have a lot of training in religions of the world — including those like Hinduism that are extremely complex and multidimensional — should not be the only voice representing it in the classroom. After all, the traditions they’re teaching are not only practiced by people who live on the other side of the world but by people who live on the other side of the street.”
Vijaykar sums up her viewpoint, “We’re all experts in our own cultures and religions. If it’s misrepresented, we have to say something.”