OF SAMAJ. There is hardly any
person who wants to live a solitary
way of life, except, may be a sadhu
or sanyasi; in fact, a feeling of
belonging has continued unchanged
from prehistoric times. Even though
a member who may not be coming
to Samaj functions, still cultivates a
relation with others (maybe, nonSamaj members) and works hard to
build company to get satisfaction
because of SIMILAR THOUGHT
PROCESSES. And that has been
the KEY when the NEED of the
Samaj was started. If you read the
reports from Birmingham, Leicester,
Wellingborough or of any other
branch, one clearly concludes that
the members needed one another
collectively to ENJOY, ASSIST,
ACHIEVE SATISFACTION, ....to
celebrate marriages, to assist during
death rites, to organise religious
festivals, etc. These functions are
still there. The need for assistance
is still there. The need for working
with like-minded and like-cultural
members is still there.
Then, why is that love for the Samaj
weakened? Why do fewer members
attend some functions, but more at
other times? Why do only a handful
of workers take responsibilities in
the working of the Samaj?
When going back, a large number
of our community members had
difficulty in adopting the new
way of life when they came to
UK – the English language and
the English way of living, weather
conditions, changes in employment
environment, housing, and so
on. They wanted somewhere to
go where they could excel in a
COMMON THOUGHT PROCESS and
bring INNER SATISFACTION in their
lives. That brought the formation of
HINDU TEMPLES and COMMUNITY
SANSTHAS.
What about now? THE NEED IS
STILL THERE, however, the present
generation, though no fault of theirs,
is NOT IN THE SIMILAR SITUATION
as that of the generation that first
came to UK.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE is the only
language of communication for
nearly all of the new generation. It
is said that when a person starts
to lose one’s MATRUBHASHA
(mother tongue), it is the beginning
of the end of one’s culture and
identity. The new generation is
born in UK and has accepted the
English language and, hence, it
is getting away from the ROOTS
of the parents and GUJARATI
LANGUAGE. Let it be clear from
the outset that the importance
and need of the English language
is not being questioned here, but
to lose the Gujarati language and
its cultural heritage should be
questioned. Losing the mother
tongue brings INDIFFERENCE to
nearly all codes of social, cultural
and religious values as well as
towards MATRUBHUMI (roots) of
our ancestors which, as Prajapatis,
surely, we would like to maintain.
...They are challenging
the Hindu code of
conduct and as such
the parents .... are
unable to explain
rationally...
The new generation has been
exposed to the ENGLISH WAY OF
LIFE to such an extent that the
thinking process, slowly but surely,
is becoming out of touch with the
Hindu values of life and behaviour.
They are challenging the Hindu
code of conduct and as such the
parents, who have been brought up
in a different way and not having
enough knowledge, are unable to
explain rationally. This is very well
experienced during the time of
marriage or death. There is nothing
wrong in asking for reasons for
any rites or ceremonies, but merely
asking for the sake of satisfying
mental inquisitiveness has little
value if there is no faith in the belief
of a ceremony.
These changes in the life style and
thoughts are becoming a divisive
reaction in the family which, in
turn, are penetrating in the code of
conduct in the running of Samaj.
Education is the key to success for
anyone and no parents would like
their children to waver from that
goal. Besides the school/college/
university education, the children are
encouraged to participate in EXTRA
CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES such
swimming, games, dancing and even
inter-city knowledge based visits.
There is nothing wrong with it, but,
if they can find the time for these
activities, the parents also need to
encourage and facilitate for them to
participate in the Samaj activities.
The Samaj is in dire need of this
age group for which appropriate
activities need to be created.
To add to this dilemma, the
WORKING ENVIRONMENT is fast
changing. The traditional 9 to 5
jobs are disappearing fast. Those
with higher education, career
achieving goals and get-rich-quick
thoughts have hardly any time for
themselves or the family; let alone,
service towards the Samaj. This is
an unfortunate situation. They only
look at the Samaj when they are in
some sort of need. As such, Samaj
loses out to these members; hence,
the running of the Samaj becomes
difficult.
Though FINDING TIME is the major
issue, it has always been there
and will remain. This has been
experienced by the past workers,
and yet, they had managed to serve
the Samaj. Everyone has dreams
and goals, but only proper planning
and organising what you need to
do, and taking appropriate steps
will achieve a particular goal; hence,
planning is vital at all levels of life.
Before, most of the community
members were living in nearly
reachable distance and personal
contact brought warmth in
whatever the needs might have
been. But, as the financial status
improved, the families started to
move out, becoming more and more
ISOLATED and moving away from
Samaj activities. Also, jobs have
demanded members to move away
from the area of Samaj activities.
Though most of these members
have a positive feeling towards the
Samaj, they themselves cannot
participate regularly in the running
of the Samaj; hence, a loss of brain
power to the Samaj.
vol. 40 | Prajapati Sandesh 2015 | www.prajapati.org.uk
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