Indian émigré answers the call

[Guest guest]

NOTE: tHIS ARTICLE WAS ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE SEATTLE POST-

INTELLGINCER PRINT EDITION. IT INCLUDED A FULL COLOR PICTURE OF

PANDIT UPADHAY OFFERING A GHEE-LAMP ALONG WITH A BEAUTIFULLY

GARLANDED VENKATESHWAR AND GANESH.

 

 

 

Saturday, August 20, 2005

 

Indian émigré answers the call

There's little down time for Mahesh Upadhyay, a techie and a Hindu

priest

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/237395_geekpriest20.html

By MALINI GOYAL

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

 

On weekdays, Mahesh Upadhyay is a geek. Testing software on his

desktop, checking e-mails on his BlackBerry, the 41-year-old is the

quintessential software professional living life in cyberspace.

 

On weekends, he assumes a new name, a new look and a new role to

enter a new world -- that of the gods and priests. As Pandit Mahesh

Shastri, he dons a traditional Indian dhoti -- yards of cloth wrapped

around his waist -- decorates his forehead with sandalwood powder and

conducts religious functions at the temples and homes of Indian Hindu

families around Seattle.

 

"Weekends get more hectic than weekdays," the Microsoft employee

says. He officiates up to seven religious functions each weekend,

often accompanied by his wife. His calendar, particularly on special

religious days, is booked well in advance. And on auspicious

weekdays -- good days determined by the Hindu religious calendar --

he sometimes finds himself performing ceremonies before and after

work, starting as early as 4 a.m. and going as late as 11 p.m.

 

In a sense, Upadhyay represents the two ends of India's spectrum --

an extremely devout culture where religion is a way of life, and a

country that ships out thousands of software engineers every year.

 

There are close to 25,000 Indians in Washington state, and many of

them are employed in the technology sector and at The Boeing Co.

Restaurants, grocery stores, Bollywood theater and music clubs

catering to the Indian community have mushroomed in the Seattle

region.

 

But miles away from their homeland, many Indians -- even those now

well on to their second and even third generations in this country --

have missed home the most when matters of religion and Hindu rituals

have surfaced.

 

No longer, though. Thanks to people like Upadhyay, who is a software

development engineer by profession and a Brahman (a community that

has the religious sanction to conduct rituals for Hindus) by descent,

Indians here no longer have to make compromises. With a big Hindu

temple in Bothell and two smaller ones in the Seattle area, many

Indian Hindus seriously and actively maintain their links to their

religion and cultural heritage.

 

"For Indian Hindus, like any immigrant community, religion is an

important way to connect with their homeland. ... This cultural

baggaging (through religion) is important," says Pyong Gap Min, a

sociologist at The City University of New York.

 

Some such as Shashi Grover, 63, a retired teacher and grandmother who

lives in Redmond, feel a strong need to connect with other Indians

through religion. Grover encourages families to join in religious

functions she helps organize every month in a Hindu family home. "We

are trying to expose our future generations to the rich Hindu

culture," Grover says.

 

 

 

For Upadhyay, his initiation into the priesthood began when he was

very young. He often accompanied his grandfather, a professional

priest in Mumbai, to marriage ceremonies and festivals. He mastered

the Hindu religious books Vedas and Upanishads while he was growing

up.

 

He never seriously contemplated a career in the priesthood, though.

Raised in a society where the emphasis on academics and college

education in average Indian households is intense, he followed the

common Indian dream -- finishing college as a commerce graduate and

studying computer science before taking up a job as software

professional.

 

It did not stop there. In 1995, well before India hit the world's

software radar, Upadhyay immigrated to Canada. Today he has U.S.

citizenship, works for Microsoft and lives in Issaquah with virtually

everything a middle-class Indian could dream of -- a house, a car, a

decent-paying job and a comfortable lifestyle.

 

Just as all of that was coming together for Upadhyay, he began to

rediscover what he cast aside when he was in college.

 

It began in 1999 when he planned a "thread ceremony" -- a ritual to

usher in manhood for young Hindu boys -- for his nephew in the

Seattle area. "With no priests around, I had to conduct the

ceremony," he says.

 

That was the first time he performed a priest's duty in the United

States. Soon word started to spread about his availability.

Initially, he conducted ceremonies for close friends and family

members. Then the demand surged so much that it turned into a second

profession for him.

 

"I have conducted ceremonies in most big Indian households in and

around Seattle," Upadhyay says.

 

It's understandable for a community that is so intensely religious.

Hindus compose more than 80 percent of India's population, and for

many of them, every day of the week has some religious significance.

 

>From birth to death, every stage of life is marked by elaborate

religious ceremonies. And there are at least 20 big annual festivals

and numerous smaller ones on the Hindu calendar.

 

Traditionally, only the Brahmans can perform priestly duties, and all

major religious functions are supposed to be done at an auspicious

time and date set by a priest.

 

What's more, Hindus from northern India and southern India typically

go to separate temples in their homeland.

 

But the desire to keep their roots alive has encouraged many to

overlook regional and religious identities and rigidities here. The

Hindu temple in Bothell caters to Hindus from both Northern and

Southern India. And sometimes non-Brahmans conduct ceremonies in

families' homes.

 

"We have to adjust and understand the difficulties of living in a

foreign country," Upadhyay says.

 

So for instance, during a traditional Indian wedding, which is often

solemnized in front of a fire god in the form of a holy bonfire,

priests here will make do with candles because most building safety

codes do not permit bonfires.

 

Other practical considerations can come into play. Some Indian Hindus

here do not wait for an auspicious date and time to get married. The

availability of banquet halls and time off from work may dictate the

date instead.

 

Upadhyay tries his best to keep up with all the auspicious dates and

times -- but sometimes he can't, especially when the auspicious

moment is to occur very late at night or early in the morning.

 

What to do then?

 

"The laptop becomes their guide," he says. The software professional

gives his clients software in a PDF format that provides step-by-step

guides to rituals and religious chants.

 

The Internet also can come to the rescue. Many Indians abroad who are

unable to get an appointment with a Hindu priest will light candles

and worship in front of a computer by logging on to Web portals such

as www.saranam.com or www.hindunet.org, which also give detailed

instructions for virtually every Hindu ceremony.

 

A plethora of CDs and DVDs is available as well.

 

"It is better to adapt and survive than vanish," Upadhyay says.

 

Malini Goyal, a journalist from India, worked at the Seattle Post-

Intelligencer on an Alfred Friendly Press Fellowship