Hindus must speak with a single voice if the Hindu community has to take its rightful place in the Caribbean. So long as Hindus work separately, the fullest potential of the community would not be realized. More so, social ills and external threats to the community would be allowed to fester and finally devour the community.
Social ills plaguing Hindu society such as drug addiction, poverty, divorce etc. can be addressed not by individuals but by the community at large. No single organization can tackle these huge problems which require much resources and trained personnel for the tasks. One of the ways forward is to train Hindu volunteers as social workers to assist in this field. In the past our pandits were expected to provide these services. Today there is the need for specialists to serve in this field. No shouting of slogans-Hindu Sanghitan! Zindabad! / Garv se kaho! Ham Hindu Hai! – would substitute for this critical work!
Conversion continues to be a major issue. Several factors contribute to this menace. Every year several Hindus are lured into other faiths through marriages, promises of material gains including employment, not excluding sheer ignorance of their dharma. Many poor, ailing and lonely Hindus feel abandoned by the community to find solace in the arms of the proselytizers with imperialistic designs. Today several converts to these alien faiths are refusing to be part of the Hindu rituals when their parents die and if done, the post funeral rites- das gard and bandara- are usually cancelled.
While I am a strong advocate for personal growth and development, the reality is that there is the need for cooperation and team work at times. Financial institutions such as the Hindu Credit Union failed because individual ambition trumped the welfare of the community. Instead of building the HCU to serve the Hindu community, incompetent and arrogant individuals exploited the HCU for selfish gains. This individualism has today become a curse not just for the community but for the individuals who indulge in it.
Our pandits and leaders are limited in their knowledge of Hinduism and Indian history. This is mainly because there are no dedicated institutions where Hindus can pursue a course of studies in Hinduism. A few ‘tutors’ are engaged in teaching but with no accredited standard or bench mark for evaluation. There is an urgent need for an examination board to develop common syllabi along with authorized tutors and set examinations to measure competence.
The mindless mushrooming of Hindu organization is a curse. It is a reflection of a deeper malaise in the Hindu minds. Too many Hindus find it difficult to work in groups and hence the continuous splitting of these organizations. Worse is that most of these fly by night organizations wither and die in a short time with limited impact on the community. This psychological malaise of Hindus must be clinically examined and treated with some degree of urgency. This may help to shed light on another problem- the inability of Hindus to work with their equals but only too happy to have a few followers at their beck and call to provide them with an Einstein effect.
The strong individual bent of the Hindu mind must be curbed at times to work with others to find solutions for problems that are too huge for an individual to solve. Maybe the solution is in strengthening our social skills!
Aren’t our pandits generally great in their social skills? Sri Satya Sai Baba has recommended seva or service as the best method to control the ego. May be, our readers may have suggestions to help find solutions for these challenges to the community.