Hindu Diaspora in Immigrants - 1151 Words

One of the many challenges that immigrants face when moving to a new country is to keep their identity intact while trying to fit into a new society. One aspect of this is the religious identity of the individuals, which is sometimes modified to better adapt to the culture, laws and views of the new place. Freedom of practice is often restricted to what the laws or the public sees as correct and it affects the integrity of the practices which might greatly influence the faith of the practitioner. Canada can be taken as an example since it welcomes many immigrants every year and each and one of them has to go through the process of adaptation. According to the 2011 census made by the government of Canada, there is a population of 297,200†¦show more content†¦In order to provide the worshipper with the ability to carry out their daily devotions, family gurus have simplified the devotional practices along with replacing chanting of sacred text due to new generations changes in knowledge of language and content of the texts due to Canadian influences (Botting and Coward). The younger generations now represent vulnerability for the traditions since they might not be able to see the importance of the devotional life style of Hinduism’s rituals since they are being modified and less commonly practiced compared to as the practices in India or the country of origin. An example of such practices that might lose strength for practitioners, are the death rituals. In order to fit in with Canadian standards, modifications to the havan, which is performed by the eldest son to the fire God Agni, have been made along with the cremation process itself, losing significant symbolic and theological meaning (Skakum, Lindsey. 2008). Also, practices such as arranged marriages have decreased in Canada due to not being socially accepted around non-Hindu practitioners. Education of younger generations is no longer made by the grandparents, since in most of the cases they are not residing in Canada. This represents a threat to the retainment of the traditional practices and it allows young ones to become more influenced by the norms and rules of Canadian culture, along withShow MoreRelatedThe Indian Diaspora By Vijay Mishra1120 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"All diasporas are unhappy, but every diaspora is unhappy in its own† (1), Vijay Mishra in his scholarly work The Literature of the Indian Diaspora, the first line of the â€Å"Introduction† chapter (echoes Anna Karenina â€Å"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.†) poignantly marks the predicament of diasporic subject, occupying â€Å"a border zone† (1) along with their problematic association in dealing with historic specificity of time and place. 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