Source: blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
INDIA, November 15, 2009 (by Tarun Vijay): While giving a lecture recently I was surprised at my audience. It was well-heeled and very keen to find out about the global Hindu footprint in the contemporary world. That’s the ‘new Hindu’ — modern, rich, powerful and a staunch believer in pluralism and diversity.
This ‘new Hindu’ is everywhere today. Lakshmi Mittal, one of the world’s richest people, now lives in London. Molecular biologist Venkat Ramakrishnan, who shared this year’s Nobel prize for chemistry with his colleagues, is based in the US. Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo chief and ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the world’s 100 most powerful women lives in the US. The list is endless. All of them are players at the global level. They are difficult to ignore.
These ‘new Hindus’ are taking the religion to new lands, which would have been unthinkable just a little while ago. This is why Shanghai celebrated its first Diwali with businessman Vijay Chaudhry from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan. Swaminarayan temples world wide are turning into Hindu awareness centers including the one at Muscat.
Some little time ago, Time magazine’s cover story was on the healing powers of yoga and chanting of ‘Om’. This is the first year that Diwali was celebrated in that seat of world power, the White House. The Gayatri mantra can now be heard in Rome, New York and Beijing. All this thanks to the liberal and successful Hindu, who will never bomb his adopted country, but instead makes it home by importing a bit of his native land. In Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital, the local river became the Ganga for Indians settled there; in Mauritius’ Port Louis, a water body was named Ganga Talab; in Bangladesh, Hindus have strengthened a movement to rebuild a Kali temple destroyed in 1971.
The point to note is that today’s Hindu is different from before. He is more empowered, open to new ideas and adventures.
Hinduism is the world’s only living religion to be known for its compassion and wisdom, rather than its past massacres and mistakes. The challenge is to build a grand future that does not knock the sentiments and beliefs of the majority, which has been trying to rise after centuries of brutalization.