Do Indians become more religious when abroad?
Last edited Mon Nov 4, 2013, 08:28 PM - Edit history (1)
PURNIMA SHARMA, TNN | Nov 4, 2013, 09.46 PM IST
NEW DELHI: When Anuj called up his mother from the US telling her of his plans of marrying his Washington-based girlfriend Shilpa, Vasundhra Jha got worried. "Although I was happy he was getting married to an Indian girl, I wanted him to choose someone from here," says the Delhi housewife, "This was because I was sure Shilpa wouldn't be a typical Indian bahu, well-versed with Indian traditions. But I was wrong." On a recce to India, Shilpa turned out to be more 'Indian' than many Indians here. During a katha at home she sat on the floor, chanting her aarti while Anuj and his local cousins gave it a miss.
So, is it the case of distance making the heart grow fonder? (An explanation that Anuj prefers giving). A number of Indians staying in lands far away suddenly start craving for the "Indian touch" and way of life. "Yes, when you're away, you do feel closer to your country," says Ritoo Ahuja, a resident of Hong Kong for the past 30 years. "In a new place where you don't have too many friends, you have to keep yourself occupied." It was this feeling -- "the need to reconnect with home" that made Ahuja turn to Indian scriptures that she confesses she might not have had time for had she been living in India.
"In India, it's all around you. Even if you don't make that extra effort you're still imbibing something all the time," says Ahuja who now holds Bhagvad Gita and Upanishad sessions in her HK home. An active participant at these lectures, Anu Sachdeva never had time for tradition as a young girl living in Delhi. Has staying away from home brought about this change? "I can't say, though my guru says I was fated to come closer to the Gita at this stage of my life." For Sachdeva, it all started when a friend took her along for a study-session. "It's now the anchor of my life," says the 52-year-old who recites the Hanuman Chalisa daily and follows all Hindu festivals closely. "Although I don't think it's absence from India that makes me do this, but for many, it is. The reasons could vary - from disillusionment, despite achieving much professional success, to kids moving on... That's when people seek refuge in religion."
Sociologist Dipankar Ghosh calls this a first-generation problem. "In a new place, away from family and friends, the only people these NRIs often come in contact with are colleagues or other fellow-country immigrants who also just mirror their own feelings of alienation. And that's because most of these fellow immigrants are also not too happy and unable to fit in. Many are not even interested in making that effort," he says. Ghosh cites another reason: "Sometimes, the religious or ethnic group these NRIs represent makes the local people wary of befriending them -- this too adds to their feelings of loneliness and nostalgia and they start following even small rituals that remind them of home."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/other-news/Do-Indians-become-more-religious-when-abroad/articleshow/25225781.cms
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