Hindu Lives

Hindu Lives

Krishnan Guru-Murthy

Krishnan Guru-Murthy follows the personal stories of three generations of British Hindus to find out how their faith has shaped their identity, the way they live, and the cultural landscape of Britain.

Generation one: The first wave

It's almost 50 years since the first wave of Hindu immigrants migrated to these shores. And, as Krishnan discovers in the first programme of the series, the experience of the oldest generation was not just one of discrimination but also of determination, where religion was not as important as simply survival.

Generation two: Caught between two cultures?

Krishnan talks to members of his own generation - the second - and explores how they've come to terms with their multiple identities and with some of the practices passed down to them by their parents.

Generation three: Confidence, culture and caste

Krishnan discovers the third generation exhibits a confidence about challenging the status quo in a way which would have been unthinkable for their parents and grandparents. And yet, at the same time, they display a surprising desire to retain many of the traditions of their parents and grandparents.

Read Krishnan's thoughts about recording Hindu Lives

Hinduism is a fairly quiet religion in Britain. There are a lot of us: at least six hundred thousand and rising, but we don't cause many problems. It isn't a preaching or proselytising religion. Nor, I suspect, is it terribly understood.

When you grow up in a Hindu family you learn not to ask what Hinduism actually is. It's a question that always provokes a different answer from whoever you ask. With no equivalent of the Bible, Sharia Law or a Pope, Hinduism tends to be whatever the people around you believe it is.

Gujeratis, Tamils and Bengalis often have as many differences in their understanding of it as do the rich from the poor or the educated from the ignorant. After a while you pick up that being a Hindu is broadly about living a good and altruistic life, and broadly about getting closer to God through a process of rebirth. But most of all, and the most common answer you will hear, it is just something you are. Hinduism? Not a religion, but a way of life.

So 'Hindu Lives' was never an attempt to give a definitive view of the religion. Instead our mission was to touch on the experience of Hindu families chosen almost at random. How did they come here? How important is their religion? How are they treated? And how have things changed through the generations?

The older generation talks vividly of how strange it was to arrive in Britain, how hard it was to find somewhere to pray, and how tricky it was to keep up practices like vegetarianism, or even just avoiding beef. They also described the angst of working out how to bring children up with none of the cultural supports that exist in their homelands.

In programme two my own generation talks about reconciling the values of their parents with the culture they are surrounded by. Many are unsure about what they believe in, or whether their Hinduism extends beyond a label they were born into. They talk about managing the expectations of peers and family: growing up going to the pub and watching 'Friends' doesn't always prepare you to go to live with your in-laws after marriage.

But it was among the third generation of teenagers that I found the most surprises. While some inevitably were the products of religion and culture that had been watered down through the generations, others were more confident and even strident about their beliefs. I met teenagers who said their first identity was Hindu, who said their first loyalty was to an India they barely knew and who could not imagine having a relationship with a non-Hindu. That came as a shock.

But this is a turbulent time in the world - and such moments often see a reappraisal of religion. Perhaps that is happening right now. One of the world's greatest Hindu philosophers, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, gave a seminal lecture at Oxford University back in 1926 entitled the Hindu Way of Life. His words seem utterly right for 2005: