Today was a revisitation to the studios at Asian Television Network. From 1990-96 I co-hosted a regular TV series called, “On the Way to Krishna” produced by ATN for Vision television Network, a religious-based network broadcast throughout Canada and the U.S. At that time “On the way to Krishna” was the longest running TV show on Hinduism in TV history according to ATN’s founder Shan Chandrashekar.
Though this is a proud achievement I sometimes find the term “Hindu” somewhat objectionable. Theologians place devotion to Krishna in the category of Hinduism but let it be known that the name is a misnomer. It is a term imposed upon those of us who adhere to the culture of the Vedas.
I once asked a Mr. Adwani, a foremost political leader of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janatiparty, if he and his following would consider a term other than “Hindu”, a label that invaders into India imposed centuries ago when the Sindhu River was pronounced with a linguistics “H” instead of “S”. Mr. Adwani declined to say whether the term will be dropped anytime soon.
I suggested that Sanatana or Sanatana Dharma could be possible terms used to refer to persons who follow the Vedas. He sugegested that “Hindu” was likely to stay although he expressed empathy for the change. After all, the word Eskimo has been dropped for the word Inuit, the chosen word to describe indigenous people of the North. ISKCON has spelled out and addressed this apparent identity crisis to read something like members of the Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON) are a bhakti movement devoted to Krishna which is found in mainstream Hinduism.
I actually had an appointment at ATN studio for a half-hour interview with host Reena Chandarana, to speak about Krishna devotionalism in the context of my own experience, of how I became a monk and why the pilgrimage walking. The interview, to be edited for broadcast next week, culminated in describing the upcoming drama in which I play King Dhrtarastra, the blind emperor of the Kuru Dynasty. The venue is Meadowvale Theatre on Saturday, Dec. 15th at 6 pm in Mississauga, Ontario.
It was a fun interview especially when Reena wanted me to describe life on the farm as a boy and how our animals would naturally end up disappearing one by one which led to my current vegetarian lifestyle.
6kms.
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