09-28-2006, 10:53 PM
I havent been following this discussion closely and dont have an opinion on this. One thing I noticed while skimming thru posts is the claim that NRIs somehow become more religious. My personal experience has been opposite. While I get more concious of my Hindu heritage in mlechcha presence I dont think I have become more religious after moving out of Matrubhumi. In India while going to school everyday I would bow my head to all Hanuman temples while driving, here I make a concious effort to go to a temple atleast once a month or so. In other words I am more concious in the US while in India it was all around me.
The number of puja-vidhis that I do in the US have also come down drastically mainly because there are no trained pundits available in the US and there is huge planning involved in getting anything done. In India vidhis would just be a part of life. Basically I do it more conciously in the US while in India I did it habitually without realising.
I think somebody mentioned (Ravishji ?) that only Indians have problems with inter-racial marriages. I have not found that to be the case (in the US atleast). I had read many stats on this but even anecdotally I can say that the US is perhaps as segregated (if not more) then India. Even after so many centuries of African Americans in the US, they are a distinct identity. Same with the hispanic population. Koreans same thing. There are different churches for different communities.
The number of puja-vidhis that I do in the US have also come down drastically mainly because there are no trained pundits available in the US and there is huge planning involved in getting anything done. In India vidhis would just be a part of life. Basically I do it more conciously in the US while in India I did it habitually without realising.
I think somebody mentioned (Ravishji ?) that only Indians have problems with inter-racial marriages. I have not found that to be the case (in the US atleast). I had read many stats on this but even anecdotally I can say that the US is perhaps as segregated (if not more) then India. Even after so many centuries of African Americans in the US, they are a distinct identity. Same with the hispanic population. Koreans same thing. There are different churches for different communities.