In
recent times, several spiritual leaders have been coming down to Goa.
They also have mass numbers of people attending their sessions.
However, what do youngsters have to say about it? Are they keen on
listening to them? The reactions from enthusiastic youngsters have
been ‘mixed’ in nature. Tejas Pandit from Vasco says, “Basically,
in my opinion, I would like to say that a ‘Guru’ is needed or
required to guide or to give proper direction (margadarshan) to a
person’s life. You can’t force anyone, especially kids and the
youth to follow somebody’s preaching. If they like his/her
preaching, then they themselves will follow it, but if they don’t,
then nobody has their right to force them to follow it. However, in
this day and age, there is a lot of commercialisation involved in the
process. Some of today’s youth have been smart enough in
understanding this and have taken a stand of not buying into it. Of
course, the credit goes to our media who has taken every possible
initiative to reveal such hidden truths. I personally don’t believe
nor follow this preaching, as I believe that it is knowledge that
improves a man’s reasoning and leads him towards success. Knowledge
that we gain in schools and colleges as growing children, knowledge
through day to day experiences, from reading the local dailies, books
and watching the knowledge producing channels. Moreover, after all
this, being able to judge, what is right and wrong, and not getting
influenced merely by words.”
Prasad
Pankar, photographer and founder of CMYK academy, who mixes with lot
of young enthusiastic photographers on a daily basis, says “A lot
depends on the parents and the environment one is brought up in. If
both or one of the parents is a regular attender of these sessions,
then yes, it’s quite possible for the youth to follow their parent’s
footsteps. I personally do not believe in it at all, that’s why I
would never advise the youth to do the same. Believe in yourself and
find your own way.”
While
young Malik Sahab Lalmiya, who is a member of Goa’s movement for
special status – youth wing has the following to say, “Nowadays,
the youth is becoming very complicated. Some members don’t listen
to preaching and religion, and some do. I believe that those that do
are smart. Listening is an art and the youth gets a lot of
knowledge/ideas which is very helpful to them.”
“I
feel that the youth today is often misguided into thinking that they
will get the solace they are looking for if they follow spiritual
people. Some get into it as today it has become a status symbol to
start following some spiritual guru or some spiritual group. I feel
that we misunderstand the concept of getting solace and fall into
this trap,” says Mandar Jog, a young theater artiste.
