THE GLOBAL EXPRESS

I hope all of you took some time to read over the core concepts of Hinduism. All these core concepts have remained the same. But what it means to be a ‘true Hindu’ has been changing over the years to meet the standards and expectations of future generations.

For example, my grandpa’s generation would never allow a girl to receive an education outside the country- well, even having an education for a girl would be seen as unnecessary and giving her too much freedom, because ‘Hinduism’ says that girls should stay at home and learn to be good future housewives. This is a notion that is being challenged more than ever before because of the fight for equality and educated Hindu’s realizing the need for questioning aspects of religion that denies someone their basic rights.

Being a Hindu surely plays an important role in how I view the world. I am born and raised Hindu and visiting temples, celebrating Hindu festivals and attending Hindu marriages has been and still is very much a part of my life. Coming from any religious background and believing in any faith does shape who you are. But until you are taken out of the environment which you were always used to and put in a different environment, you do not question a lot of things that you have always seen as ‘normal. Coming to America made me realize and accept that there were certain things that I needed to re-think, because it was not possible for me to be the same person that I was in India.

Studying at Wartburg has challenged me to question a lot of my beliefs. I definitely view things in a way that is different from people who were brought up Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. but I try to reflect on why they view the world the way they do and what can I learn from people I meet that will help me become a better person. Taking this path has made it very difficult for me to remain true to my Hindu roots, because I realized that a specific religion or faith cannot define you unless you choose to let it define you. And I had made the choice to not. I wanted my faith to be an ever changing process of using it, questioning it, cross examining it and even rejecting it at times as a means to become the person I would like to live with each day of my life- me.

So I started thinking about what I had been told to do in order to be a good Hindu. I realized that some lessons of Hinduism were so profound and beautiful that no one could take them away from my heart.

One of them was love- endless, true and pure love.

Seeking love and hoping that it will find its way to you whenever you need is a teaching I find great meaning in. No action makes sense without love. Nothing can be fully achieved if there is no element of love. Success has no secret recipe; it is only achieved when you love what you do.

However, people have forgotten how to love. Words like war, anger, hatred, crime and terror have begun creeping into the minds of people. From a young age children have started becoming vengeful. “She stole my pencil; I will steal her entire crayon box.” What you might think is that this is something insignificant, right? But this very child is a reflection of our world.

We fail to see how we are all stealing each other’s boxes of crayons.

Let me break it down for you this way. I live in a world where people tell me not to trust anyone. But my question is why has no one ever told me was why the world has become this way? If we have reached a stage where we cannot trust anyone, then I am sorry but I think I do not want to live in such a world. Unfortunately, the reason that such is the reality of ‘our times’ is simply because people have become self-centered and no one cares to try love. Hating is simple, like giving up, because it does not require courage and empathy. You do not need to question why you hate; you just know that it is whatill get you what you want. Families get fragmented. Nations get destroyed. Religions get torn apart. People use it as a weapon to brainwash others into believing that the world is black and white, because that way it is easier to know who the enemy is. Hinduism says that people need to be reminded of the beauty of love- in the power it can have in overcoming all negative thoughts.

Ideas stem from an open mind. If people are given the freedom to define themselves, they will have the ability to make their lives the best they can. However, interference based on notions of what is right or wrong is human nature, and misinterpretations of religions and faith only propagate such interferences. This is one of the concerns I have with traditional Hinduism. People have fixated perceptions on how they want their family and society to look like based on their interpretation of religion. Hence, any deviation from their defined “norm” causes conflict.

“How can we let our girl marry a Muslim?”, “No, my son cannot be gay.”

But what if you let your girl marry a Muslim; you might change your perspective on Muslims and influence people to encourage their sons and daughters to do the same. One might feel that their actions are insignificant, but what they fail to see is that by taking down ‘norms’ they’re actually igniting a small fire in the path for change. Accepting that we live in a diverse world/ embracing diversity is the way forward, for it leads to varied perspectives of possible solutions, hope and eventually progress.

So yes, I am still in the process of debating how my faith has helped me become the person I am today. I have understood that it is not only viewing things with one lens that defines who we are, it is an accumulation of many processes. Our culture, the environment in which we grow up, and the family values instilled within us greatly shape the person we turn into.

However, the fact that we rebel, make mistakes, evaluate our life choices and end up realizing that we have the control to make our lives the best existence possible does not mean that we are abandoning our faith.

It simply and only means that we are re-discovering it.