Source: www.hafsite.org
UNITED STATES, July 22, 2010: If you missed the winning essays of the Hindu American Foundation’s second annual NextGen Essay Contest, here is your chance to read what the next generation of Hindus is thinking. The question asked was, “How do you live your Hindu identity differently than your parents live theirs?” Contestants, in two categories based upon their age – 17 – 22 years and 23 – 27 years, were judged on their creativity, focus and style by a four person panel composed of HAF staff and Executive Council members. From the many worldwide entries, four outstanding essays, two in each age category, were selected as the winning entries.
At the “source” link above,” you will find intelligent pieces such as the one written by Hamsika Chandrasekar, 19, one of the winners. “Having learned both Bharatnaatyam and Carnatic vocal music for over ten years, I connect with much of Hindu lore through the medium of song and dance. Draupadi’s pain, Arjuna’s struggle, Ravana’s anger, and Krishna’s wisdom are all concepts I understand through hand gestures, footwork, facial expressions, and lyrics.” Chandrasekar is a rising sophomore at MIT, pursuing a major in Brain and Cognitive Sciences with hopes of going to medical school or working in the field of Global Health. She is trained in both classical Indian dance and Carnatic music.
Another winner is Pramal Lad, 25, born and raised in the UK. Lad left his career as a Tax Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers to join the NGO sector in Karnataka, India to train rural graduate students with the aim of securing well-paid employment. He is currently a Fellow with Indicorps, a grassroots partnership organization that places young Indians who have a willingness to give themselves fully for one year in the development of local communities in India. “Whilst my parents continue to spend many hours every day in devotional worship or Bhakti Yoga, I invest all of my time supporting the neglected rural communities of Karnataka, adding value to their lives, both present and future,” Lad wrote in his winning essay. “My parents spend many hours offering food, clothing and attention to the divine representation, whilst I work with living, breathing manifestations of the divine spirit – a subset of the hundreds of millions of Indians who are in desperate need of the same clothing, food and attention. I worship by serving the underserved…”
Shweta Thakur, a graduate of UCLA, wrote: “While my parents can feel grounded by doing pujas and considering actions of today affecting the far future, I find it more comfortable to live my Hindu identity using more tangible concepts like writing and thinking about the near future,” Thakur wrote. “The beauty of our religion is its ability to embrace all kinds of practices.”
Click on the link above for a treasure-trove of young Hindu American thinking.