Author: Johnson T A
Publication: www.indya.com
Date: August 11, 2001
Nineteen-year-old Vinod Shastry,
a second generation Indian American, on his second visit to India, paces
around the classroom/dormitory at the Jana Seva Vidya Kendra, a residential
boys school 20 km from Bangalore, apparently humming a tune.
Only from within earshot do you
realise he is reciting from Tulsidas's epic Ram Charitra Manas.
In an adjoining room, 16-year-old
Mihir Pitodia, a Kenyan citizen of Indian origin on his first visit here,
is standing on one leg - attempting a yoga asana. His friend Amit Gupta,
19-year-old British medical student, also in India for the first time,
is sitting on his makeshift bed on the floor chanting a Sanskrit shloka.
Shastry, Pitodia and Gupta are among
over 90 foreigners of Indian origin who flew into India nearly a month
ago to attend a 21-day Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) camp that aims
to put them in touch with the Hindu in them - something they can't really
do in their own countries.
It is lunch break at the camp and
Shastry, Pitodia and Gupta brush up on lessons they learnt during the morning
sessions on their penultimate day at the camp.
For the RSS, whose ideology flows
through the blood of India's ruling political party the BJP, the camp -
held every four years since 1992, offers the opportunity to "preserve"
Hindu culture on foreign soil.
"We are not teaching them a religion,
we are teaching them a way of life. We are giving them grounding in Hinduism,
imparting very basic knowledge about their country and culture. They should
build upon it," says V Nagaraj one of the organisers of the camp who also
facilitates the "intellectual" component at the camp.
The residents at the camp, set on
a lush campus, are mostly students, 16-25 years of age, but there are also
a handful of middle-aged professionals.
There are 34 UK nationals at the
camp, 15 from Holland, 13 from the Caribbean nation of Surinam, 12 from
Trinidad, nine from the US, five from South Africa, two from Kenya, two
from South-East Asian nations, and one from West Asia.
The majority of them trace their
roots to Brahmin families from Gujarat and Central India and nearly all
of them are actively involved with the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangha - the RSS
incarnation abroad. In fact 43 of the campers head HSS shakhas or units
in their respective areas.
"This camp is reinforcing my Hindu
pride. I am getting to know what my culture is all about," says Vinod Shastry.
"An Indian is never quite accepted
abroad. Both young and the old are looking for their identity in a sea
of western culture. This camp strengthens an identity that is our own,"
says 42-year-old Shambhu Shastry an IITian and electrical engineer from
Boston.
The lessons they are being taught
revolve around the everyday usefulness of Hindu culture, and also touches
on the spiritual character of the Hindu, says Nagaraj.
Stress management through yoga was
a lecture session the campers had with Dr Nagendra, head of the Vivekananda
Yoga Kendra in Bangalore. Nagaraj is himself teaching them about the Hindu
ghar or home - family values, respect for parents, how to keep a family
together.
"The Hindu family faces many challenges
in the Western world. The attempt to convert is not as overt as it is over
here. But it exists subtly. If the understanding of your religion and culture
is not strong you will get sucked into the materialistic culture," says
Shastry.
Chandrashekhar, a physical or sharirik
instructor who puts the students through typically Indian exercise modules
at 6 AM every morning has taught the campers Indian games - kho-kho and
kabbadi.
A Swamiji from the Ramakrishna Mutt
taught the campers the essence of the Vedas, Swami Dayanand Saraswathi
taught from the Upanishads one day. He also spoke about the Hindu ideal.
Sanskrit pandit and traditional
Veda teacher Ramachandra Bhat taught the campers the essence of puja. He
also conducted a practical session on how to conduct one.
The camp is structured like the
ancient gurukuls. A typical day at the camp begins at 4:45 AM. At 5:30
AM it's yoga, 6:00 AM it's physical exercise, 8:00 AM is breakfast time
followed by a three-hour break for washing clothes, bathing.
Between 11:15 AM and 12:15 PM it's
lecture/discussion hour followed by lunch and a break till 3:15 PM for
a second lecture session.
The evenings are for creative pursuits
- Indian folk music, poetry writing or singing bhajans. There has also
been the odd visit to villages in the vicinity of the residential school.
According to Nagaraj, it was essential
to have the camp in India because it was the only way the foreign nationals
could truly experience their culture. While some have come at the insistence
of their parents, several of those at the camp planned and saved for the
trip over a period of time.
According to Shambhu Shastry: "Hindu
youths living abroad are more aware of their religion and culture than
youths in India."
Life at the camp is existential
- the campers sleep on the floor, wash their own clothes, eat vegetarian
food (some have not been able to stomach the spice though). While their
teachers are frequently dressed in traditional RSS attire - khaki shorts
and vests, or dhotis and vests - the campers themselves are dressed in
casuals.
Several of the campers are scheduled
to embark on a pilgrimage of key temples in the country, guided by the
RSS, after Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh brings the curtains down on the
camp on Sunday. A similar camp for women is in the offing in Pune in December.
According to Nagaraj: "The Hindu
culture went through a downslide in the last century. Now with political
power on our side the RSS is reviving Hindu culture."
