)
(The Blog is reverently for all the seekers of truth,
lovers of wisdom and to share the Hindu Dharma with others on the
spiritual path and also this is purely a non-commercial blog)
YOUTH- The
Journey Begins
How a visit to a temple magically turned one twelve-year-old’s embarrassment for Hinduism into an outspoken pride in her faith
(BY DEVINA DEVAGHARAN)
IT IS NOT EASY BEING A HINDU, especially when you are twelve
and you live in Texas. Even more difficult is being a Hindu and being
home-schooled. Worse than that is when you’re the only Hindu among all your
home-schooled friends, who are devout Christians. Imagine this: Out of the
hundreds of Christian kids with fair skin, I stick out like a sore thumb thanks
to being the only Hindu girl with dark chocolate skin. People say: “Being
different is awesome!” Well not in my case! I’ve been embarrassed to be a
Hindu. There, I said it, and I admit it. I always thought that my friends would
laugh at me if I told them I was born a Hindu. As a home-schooler surrounded by
Christian friends, I was uneasy and ungrateful towards Hinduism. I was the kid that
didn’t belong.
I
constantly struggle being a Hindu kid growing up in America. I’m more of a
follower, and not a leader. Some of my Hindu friends are like that as well. My
parents, who were raised in Malaysia, had it easy. My mother has told me many times
that when I was younger, around 4 or 5 years old, I constantly wished that I
had fairer skin, blond hair, blue eyes and an American name to blend in with my
friends.
Hinduism
has always been confusing to me. Too many Gods, too many arms, too many weapons,
too many festivals and too many names. How’s a twelve-year-old going to
understand all of this? How can I even begin to explain it to my friends?
Imagine explaining about Lord Ganesha. I’d be embarrassed to tell them that I
pray to an elephant that sometimes has many heads and rides on a special rat! I
can imagine the stares and laughter that would accompany that statement. As
much as I hate to say it, I have to admit that it was odd praying to an animal
that represents God. Why do we pray to animals? Is it true that Ganesha travels
on a rat? Can the rat really carry such a huge and obese Ganesha? Why are Hindu
Gods always walking around with weapons? Some do look pretty scary. My friends
are devout Christians and sometimes they quote the Bible or add a fact about
Christianity in their conversations with me. I am constantly amazed at how much
they know about their religion. I wished that I could talk about my religion
fluently and confidently, but I honestly knew very little about Hinduism.
I
had so many questions and very few answers. My parents did their best, but I
wished I could get the answers straight from the teachers or masters
themselves. I did not want to listen to the watered-down version. I needed real
answers. Like when you want to learn to play the piano, you would seek out a
renowned piano teacher. It is the same way with other subjects and master
teachers. Why do Hindus wear a bindi? If it is the third eye, why is there no
vision? What is vibhuti? Why on our forehead? Why can’t you wear shoes into the
temple? Why do Lord Siva, Ganesha and Muruga have so many forms and names? Why
can’t there be just one for each? As a kid, I have a hard time memorizing
history and science vocabulary, imagine adding to that the Hindu Gods’ many,
many, many names and forms?
Well,
my trip to Kauai this past year answered a lot of my questions and has brought
me so much closer to my birth religion that now I am actually proud of being a
Hindu. I know the answers now, and there is a ton of logic that accompanies the
answers to each of my questions.
This
trip was my family’s third visit to Kauai. My parents came here when they were
newlyweds in 1999 and brought me here in 2006. I hardly remember anything from
that trip except that all the swamis had long beards—fascinating to me as a
five-year-old. The 2013 trip was not like any vacation my family and I have had
before. I shuddered when my parents told me that all our awake time would be
spent at the temple! Pray on vacation? Who does that? Gone were my plans to zip-line!
My parents made it clear that whatever zip-lining to be done would be to the
temple and back. My expectations for this trip fortunately changed from bad to
great the minute we walked into the temple that Wednesday morning. From the way
the people in Kauai live, to the atmosphere at the temple, everything was so
different from back home. In Texas, all day long everybody says, “What’s next
on my list?” In Kauai, everybody says, “I’m going to the beach.” In Texas, even
on free days, we aren’t really free and there’s always something to do or
somewhere to go to. The vibrations and energy at the Kadavul Temple are so
different from the temple that I visit in Texas. The vibrations at the temple
are positive, and I felt very calm and peaceful. The monks here spent a lot of
time with us and took us around the temple grounds. There were so many things
that I learned about Hinduism when I was here that would otherwise have taken
me a lifetime to understand.
I’m
glad I got to spend a whole week at the temple just to focus on my religion. I
was beginning to understand Hinduism. I learned so much that I felt like a
completely new kid. The way I thought about Hinduism changed, and the way I
felt about Hinduism changed as a result. I now understand the true forms of all
of our Gods and the many mystical animals that accompany them. Besides learning
Hinduism in Kauai, I received a well-needed course on how to eat healthy and
exercise physically and mentally. I also ate greens that I never knew existed!
They tasted pretty good, too! So many wonderful people and experiences happened
that inspired changes in me. So many sensational feelings blended together and
created the greatest time of my life. I always looked on the outside of things,
and never on the inside. For me, the temple was the eraser and Texas was the
pencil. In Texas I messed up so much, from not learning Hinduism properly, to
not praying to God at all, and being ungrateful to Hinduism. When I arrived at
the temple—or in this case, the eraser—it was able to erase all the negativity
and mistakes I had made before.
When
I returned home to Texas, I started from scratch, picking up the pieces and
putting them together correctly. This time, I could feel being a Hindu inside
of me. The Kadavul Hindu Temple in Kauai and all of the swamis and the people
that I met during my stay have really changed my perception towards Hinduism.
This year my New Year’s resolution is to crack out of my shell and start
climbing the mountain. That means that I’m going to stop being ungrateful and
shy about being a Hindu. I am proud and confident of my heritage, culture and
religion. Climbing up the mountain will be a challenge, but I have to start
from the bottom and work my way up to the top! I’m practicing more Hinduism
now, and the Ten-Minute Spiritual Workout by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami is
exactly what I needed. Meeting him was a truly special part of this trip. I am
grateful to Paramacharya Sadasivanatha Palaniswami for gifting me The History of Hindu India which will be my main
social studies book for this year. I also appreciate the beautiful pair of
rudraksha earrings that I wear proudly. I appreciate Sannyasin
Saravananathaswami spending all of his time with us while on tour.
Thank
you for giving me this wonderful opportunity to share my experiences with all
of the Hindu youth out there who are struggling with the same issues that I
have experienced. I am grateful for the Kadavul temple and look forward to the
Iraivan temple and am blessed that I am able to watch it grow. I enjoyed
meeting the cows and what an exciting experience it was trying to feed them. I
loved spending time with all of the Hindu ladies helping at the temple’s gift
shop.
I
feel a change in myself, and I know I will continue to grow in Hinduism and be
a great Hindu. I am so grateful that my parents worked hard to make this trip
materialize. I arrived in Kauai with many questions and trepidations about my
birth religion, but it was the right time in my life. Lord Siva was waiting for
us. I know this journey has only just begun, but I am excited and looking
forward to the many explorations ahead. I am counting the days until I return
to the Kadavul temple. Most importantly, I’m proud to be a Hindu, and I hope
you are too!
(DEVINA DEVAGHARAN , 12, lives in Euless,
Texas, with her parents Devagharan Nair and Kumari Nallakumar. She is home
schooled and enjoys chess, playing the piano, drawing and writing.)
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations to Sadguru Sri Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
ji, Satguru Bodhianatha Velayanswami ji, Hinduism
Today and Articles writers for the collection)
(The Blog is reverently for all the seekers of truth,
lovers of wisdom and to share the Hindu Dharma with others on the
spiritual path and also this is purely a non-commercial blog)
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