Guru Nanak was travelling with his disciples and came to a village where they received rather unkind treatment, faced insults, and were humiliated. Guruji blessed them “May these villagers live a good life right here” and moved on. They came to another village where the villagers greeted them with great reverence. Treated them with utmost respect, and the next day bade them farewell with tears of gratitude in their eyes. Guruji blessed them “May this village disperse and the villagers get scattered all over the world.”
A disciple was bewildered about why blessings of living a good life to the nasty villagers, and why cursing the benign people to disperse and scatter all over the world!” Guruji replied “Because we don’t want them to pollute the earth more than their village with their presence. But we certainly wish the humble and pious people to spread all over the world to spread their kindness like fragrance from a flower.”
Good questions indeed, but no easy answers
America as a nation came into existence because of the founding fathers – some brave people who demanded their dignity to be recognised by their own nation they loved. And trust me, none of them was a traitor. Thomas Jefferson famously wrote, “There is not in the British empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do” before pledging his commitment to the cause of the independence of America. In that letter, he uses the phrase “the sentiments of America.” With that, he means respect for their individuality, their enterprising spirit, the appropriate reward for their hard work, their staunch ethics, and the freedom to follow their religion and pursue the optimism they had found on the new land, along with many other inspirational personal qualities. They had charted new maps to materialise the possibilities which their compatriots in their native countries would never have thought of. They were on a mission to create a new world for the deserving, and by deserving they meant anybody, who was committed to that vision.
And for that, they were happy to welcome anybody to join them in the new world. Perhaps Benjamin Franklin said that in America nobody is interested in where you were born or where you are coming from. The only thing they will ask is what you can do.
This is what the idea of America is. Because of that, it became the superpower we knew, and attained greatness. Because of that, it became the land of opportunities for everybody willing to make the best use of one’s skills and talents to create or provide something useful to society, and to enjoy the riches received in return. This idea became the favorable wind for the millions ready with their sails set to start their voyage to the land of opportunities.
That put America on a towering pedestal. America became a mighty and wealthy superpower the world had never seen before. It had the entire world’s resources at its disposal. It became a haven for creators and innovators. So attractive, that the daughter of Stalin and son of Khrushchev came there seeking asylum and career opportunities. It was a refuge for the world’s most talented individuals in any field who were fearing state-sponsored hardships in their home countries. The world’s top talent in every field poured down into a vast melting pot called America.
But with power and wealth came arrogance, and a tendency to avoid physical, emotional, or intellectual hard work. Immense technological advancement facilitated that.The Federal Reserve printing machines gave them unprecedented purchasing power to buy others’ time and ideas. The superpower status of the nation gave them a great sense of safety, security, and comfort, hence they had all the time to spend on entertainment and seeking excitement. America’s new generations were more keen on entertainment than their competence. They were becoming an excitement-addicted society. They were happy for others to think on their behalf, and to make intellectual efforts to continue the country’s advancement in every field.
That resulted in a steep decline in the number of students in higher studies in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects. As a consequence, there was a steep decline in the number of scientists, technocrats, engineers, doctors, managers, and businessmen coming from the US families. The situation worsened so much, that when America was invading Iraq, more than 80 per cent of American students could not locate Iraq on the world map. The American children were growing up as if eating, drinking, and living merrily was the sole motive of their lives. Their aspiration to achieve high and noble goals vanished from their psyche.
On the other hand, because of the advancement of semiconductor technology, the need for mathematically savvy professionals increased quite dramatically. In the opposite hemisphere, science and technology educated young Indians were ready with the skills that America needed for the digital revolution. They came to the US and took maximum advantage of the prevailing skill shortage.
They were inspired to improve their lifestyle and wanted to provide their generations with opportunities that they never had. What every Bharatiya must be proud of is the qualities they carried with them when they moved to the US, exactly like the villagers whom Guru Nanak blessed. They only made America richer. They have been giving more than they are receiving from the Government. Their involvement in crimes is negligible. Never been a threat to the American way of life, culture, religion, economy, or even national security. They are the highest median income group. They’re creators of new opportunities. They are a significant proportion of the investor community. They are law-abiding citizens with exemplary family values. Their contribution extends beyond businesses to the educational, intellectual, and cultural sphere of America.
For them, America is no more a place just to work hard to earn and save money to send to their families back home because America is their home. What Owen said to me about the Indian community in the UK applies verbatim to the Indians in the US. It has truly become their beloved Karma-Bhoomi. Having said that, the Indians never claimed to have built America. Nor they have ever said that America is functioning because of them. They have been doing what they’re best at, and are always grateful to America for providing them with such a great environment, and opportunities. For Indians, America winning means their victory.
But in spite of that, their success stories have always been a subject of envy for many. And since the appointment of Shriram Krishnan that envy has turned into bitter jealousy by the likes of Laura Lomer. That jealousy is now escalated into a vicious anti-India, and if it wasn’t enough, into anti-Hindu tyrad. Until recently such rants were typically limited to the left or radical Islamic groups but this time it has found supporters in republicans. She has forgotten that the right of free speech doesn’t mean hate speech.
But my concern is the element of hatred for Hindus in it. I am intrigued as to why she resorted to such a cheap way to score any political point if there was any. And that too, at what cost! To please whom! The Republicans are openly against mass immigration, that’s a known fact. But why turning anti-Hindu, is something only she can answer.
Laura’s idea of America seems misguided. She might be thinking that America is a land of Caucasian white people. Oh, come on! The land belongs to those who make themselves deserving as the ancient Sanskrit proverb वीरभोग्या वसुन्धरा suggests. You are exposing how restricted your thinking process is. We Hindus don’t associate ourselves with anything just physically. Our identification with our Karma Bhoomi America transcends the physical limits. Therefore it is my humble request to you to wake up to the actual realities and try to understand the Hindu way of life.
Until now the Left-liberals used to oppose the idea of ‘merit’ as the Republican philosophy is largely about merit. The Hindus took advantage of this philosophy and succeeded. They felt that they would be respected for everything they have done but it seems that they were too naive and deluding themselves. Laura’s rants have exposed how the typical white supremacists are feeling about the Hindus. Seems that they are more bitter about Hindus being appointed in the new government than they’re about their political opponents. They are actually blatantly suggesting that America belongs only to white Americans. What is this, if not racism!
And just why would the anti-India, anti-Hindu left-liberal remain inactive when there is such an opportunity for them to jump on the bandwagon! They have been quite swift to side with the anti-Hindu right-wingers to rant against whatever they can use against Sanatan Dharma.
We need to understand that like the left-liberal are having their animosity against Sanatan Dharma and Bharat, the far-right groups on the Republican side are not much different. They too can be hard-line radical Christians when it comes to Sanatan Dharma.
Dear Americans, your real concern should be the declining level of education in the young generation of America. The vanishing family values. The reduced number of American students in STEM subjects. The number of students passing technical degrees from the universities is shared between the students from the Jewish, Indian, and Chinese communities. American students seem almost absent. Doesn’t this daunting reality concern you? These remarks from Laura resulted from nothing but racial jealousy towards Hindus for their values of education, professional dedication, family values, enterprising spirit, humility to love and respect their Karma Bhoomi, genuine identification, attachment, and devotion to their new homeland, and heartfelt concerns about her wellbeing.
Trump has given a grand vision to make America great again. That means America did lose her greatness sometime in history. I have attempted to give a rather basic account of some superficial reasons for that. The actual fundamental reasons are quite deep and will require a different and comprehensive study which isn’t the subject of this article. But just think about what made America great in the first place. It is known to everybody that they were values mentioned earlier in this article. Then have a look around to see who is living up to those values. I promise you will find only Hindus living to those glorious values which made America great. Should Americans have maintained their values aligned with those of their Founding Fathers, there was no reason to give this slogan of Make America Great Again.
What can Hindus of America do about this?
There is a lot we can do. But the question is, what impact will our actions create on the psyche of the Americans full of hatred and jealousy for Hindus? The first and foremost advice I can offer is to ensure your safety. No need to be apologetic about being a Hindu immigrant or a descendant of an immigrant. You should be proud of that fact. But that pride must not come across as arrogance. Maintain friendliness and humility all the time. If you come across somebody abusing Hindu Dharma, or Bharat, or you as an individual for just being a Hindu, remember that he/she is having major self-esteem issues otherwise one wouldn’t be abusive in the first place. I see no point in confronting such people as confronting can escalate to violence. Instead, think about how you can as a member of the Hindu community come up with an idea to create a wave of collective energy that will deter future abuses. The art of creating a collective opinion is something we the Hindus are severely lacking. Learn to use the soft power to our advantage. Support those who are vocal about the Hindu causes in every way possible. Become a member of the Hindu organizations and organize joint events. Learn to accept differences of opinions and how to work coherently in spite of differences. It is more important to have Hindus on our side than bigots from other supremacist groups. Convincing them can wait. There is no alternative to confidence. No need to feel inferior, no need to accept others as superior. Your confidence should assert that you are the best of both.
But having said that, the successful accomplishment of everything will depend upon our Swa-Bodha and Shatru-Bodha. Do we know ourselves? Can we recognise our enemies, who have pledged to annihilate our Dharma? Do we know what we are? Do we know what it is to be a Hindu? Do we know our Dharma in its true form, or do we rely upon the self-proclaimed YouTube celebrity ‘Acharyas’ who are actually misguiding our youth by propagating the leftist agenda disguised as teachings of Vedanta and Bhagavad Gita? Can we even recognise the subtle messaging from all directions intending to turn against our Dharma, our Hindu culture, the Hindu way of life, and the Hindu way of thinking? Friends, there is no alternative of knowledge. Think about how you can acquire it more and more.
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