Jain Spirit 1999 10 No 02

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 40

Where are all the young people?
WHERE ARE ALL THE YOUNG PEOPLE?
Ishani Chowdhury
nespite inheriting one of the
richest cultures in the world for free, young Indians today have little respect or pride in their tradition. In this article. Ishani speaks with con- cern for the future of this culture.
India's unparalled beauty, its snowcapped Himalayan peaks and the unspoiled sandy beaches attract thousands of smiling strangers each year. Here Sri Krishna uttered the immortal message of Bhagavad Gita to Arjun, and countless yogis spread it across lands as distant as Java and Saudi Arabia. Mahavira inspired some of the greatest leaders of the twentieth century including Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Our forefathers built wondrous works of sacred architecture and developed the ancient cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro. From India arose the decimal system, polo, chess, astrology, ayurveda and surgery. However, as the centuries passed, our treasures
atmosphere of contempt for our my peers are at home. Why so? "Oh, motherland. And as a result of this, my they have to study. The temple is generation, Generation X, is described always there. Maybe they will come as clouded in a haze of drugs and next week." Unfortunately, that week violence, addicted to the computer never comes. These are the same keyboard and the Internet. But I see it peers that scoff at Indian culture as one wherein our history, loyalty and and festivals and have a shallow pride are in danger of being lost conception of Indian history. Asked forever. We are the least in touch with why, they reply. "My parents never our motherland, but not at all ashamed explained it to me. If they don't think of this. We pride ourselves on being it is important, why should I?" "Join the
Hindu Students Council? Isn't that a religious organisation? Why do we need that? Sorry but I have better things to do and I don't want to be called a fanatic." These temples could eventually become nothing but exhibitions, with vacant halls hosting Deities and one senior priest left to carry out the last strand of culture that links us to our motherland
cities were pillaged and burned to the ground and our people left crippled with horror.
Our parents raise us with 1600 SAT scores, not the
values of Vedas or ancient Scriptures. They delight in grasping anything American and letting go of everything Indian. They have forsaken the responsibility of handing over our rich and ancient heritage to grasp one that is merely a few hundred years old. Our festivals have become only social gatherings, not a time of remembrance or prayer. My generation may be the last one that can pass on the legacy of our forefathers, for not only the next, but also ultimately the world. The vision of a vibrant and united community may be lost forever.
Yet India has survived it all and
called ABCDs (American-Born Confused Desis). We enter prestigious Ivy League colleges, chasing after the dream of six-figure salaries and networking with the corporate elite, while ignoring our community and the plight of our people and our motherland. At college, I see other students of similar ethnicity, Chinese, Black Africans, bonding closely, while my countrypeople are scattered in fragments. We are proud of our non-Indian friends, not catching even a glimpse of those who are of our own descent. Though our culture is richly adorned with festivals and traditions, Indian students' clubs know nothing but hosting parties. When it comes to joining Hindu or Jain organisations, we simply walk the other way, sometimes laughing as we pass by. A sparse group of parents go to temple, while
threshold of the twenty-first century, facing the challenges of being the world's largest democracy. However, while India thrusts forward as one of the globe's most rapidly developing countries, we seem to flee from our past. For some, being Indian is more a vice than a virtue. The mere thought of being called "Indian' seems to shroud us with shame and fear of association with "backward" kinsfolk. We run to escape, raising our children in this
ISHANI CHOWDHURY, 21, is founder of New Yorks Baruch College Hindu Students Council and is HSCS Atlantic regional secretary. This article was originally published in Hinduism Today, May 1999. Visit www.hindu.org/hu/ Photo: Chandu Shah
October - December 1999 • Jain Spirit 39
www.binelibrary.org