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We risk becoming a lost generation, say young Hindus

Joanna Taylorin Northstowe
News imageJOANNA TAYLOR/BBC Eyva is smiling and looking at the camera. She is wearing a navy hoody and red and white T-shirt. In the background there are tables and cupboards inside a classroom. JOANNA TAYLOR/BBC
Eyva, 16, said young Hindus risk becoming a "lost generation" without a place to gather and worship in Cambridgeshire

Young Hindus say they risk becoming a "lost generation" and disconnected from their culture and traditions because they have nowhere to worship.

Hindu families living in Northstowe, Cambridgeshire, say they will now have to drive to temples in London and Birmingham to worship after the closure of the Bharat Hindu Samaj Temple in Peterborough.

Some of the families say they moved to Northstowe specifically in the hope the Hindu Samaj Northstowe group would win a bid to build and run the town's first faith hub, but it lost out to the Northstowe Church Network.

"Compared to my friends who go to church every week, I go to temple maybe twice a year," 16-year-old Eyva, who lives in Northstowe, says.

"My friends like to come and see festivals and how we celebrate, but I can never take them to a temple.

"I can never show them how our traditions are done properly, because there are no facilities to support that," she adds.

"You've already lost this generation," Eyva says, adding that "you've lost the next generation as well" if a temple is not built soon.

The Hindu Samaj Northstowe group's bid scored 65 out of 100 against South Cambridgeshire District Council's criteria, while the Northstowe Church Network scored 81.

The council said the Hindu Samaj Northstowe bid "presented clear evidence of both regional and local need for a temple", but that it could have done more to "address local needs outside the faith community" and that there was "insufficient practical detail".

News imageJOANNA TAYLOR/BBC Eight adults and one child sitting in a classroom in two rows. They are looking at the camera. JOANNA TAYLOR/BBC
Hindus in Northstowe say they are regularly driving to Watford and Birmingham to worship at a temple

Three further opportunities for groups to bid for faith land are planned by South Cambridgeshire District Council.

The first faith and community hub in Northstowe is due to be built on 0.25 hectares (0.6 acres) of land off Stirling Road, overlooking Bug Hunter Waters lake.

Keisha, 10, said her family "purposefully moved to Northstowe because there was such a big Indian community and because there was going to be faith land".

News imageJOANNA TAYLOR/BBC Ten-year-old Keisha is smiling at the camera and sitting next to her Dad, Abhishek, who is looking at the camera with a neutral expression. Keisha is wearing a top patterned with strawberries and a pink and red coat. Her dad is wearing a navy T-shirt and jacket. There are school tables stacked behind them. JOANNA TAYLOR/BBC
Keisha and Abhishek say the face more than an hour's drive to Watford, Hertfordshire, to worship at a temple

"I think there's a definite need for a temple in Northstowe so we don't need to go so far away," Keisha says.

Her dad, Abhishek, explains that the family currently drives about an hour and a half to Watford to worship.

Aishwarya says she faces a similar drive with her two children, which made visiting a temple feeling like it has "become a job".

News imageJOANNA TAYLOR/BBC Aishwarya smiling and looking at the camera. She is wearing a floral zip up jumper. A classroom, out of focus, is in the background. JOANNA TAYLOR/BBC
Aishwarya said driving to a temple has become "a job"

"It's supposed to be a place of joy," Aishwarya says, but "everyone is exhausted by the time we get there."

Jeetendra, from Northstowe, who has a 10-year-old son, said his child is likely to be "much older" by the time a dedicated place to worship is established nearby.

"I'm not going to have another child," he said. "The need is now."

News imageJOANNA TAYLOR/BBC Jeetendra smiling at the camera. He is wearing glasses, a gold chain and a red shirt. An out of focus classroom is in the background. JOANNA TAYLOR/BBC
Jeetendra said his 10-year-old child would grow up without a nearby temple

Aparna Nigam, the chair of the Hindu Samaj Northstowe group, says she hopes other faith land becoming available would help provide "that missing piece of the puzzle", by supplying a shared space for people of different faiths, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists.

News imageJOANNA TAYLOR/BBC Aparna Nigam is smiling and looking at the camera. She is wearing a floral shirt. There is an out of focus classroom in the background. JOANNA TAYLOR/BBC
Aparna Nigam said the Hindu Samaj Northstowe group poured their souls into their application

Nigam adds the group "poured our souls" into writing the 200-page bid for five years and were disappointed to receive an 150-word feedback summary from South Cambridgeshire District Council.

The council says there is a "wealth of information to help potential bidders develop their proposals" and that applicants could ask for a breakdown of their scoring, which was agreed upon by six council officers and two external specialists.

Abhishek Srivasdava, who is also involved with the Hindu Samaj Northstowe group, says the new faith hub would be "no better" than booking out an existing community centre if Hindus were not given a permanent base.

He adds the community will still face having to carry their deities from place to place and would not be able to worship on consecrated ground or properly celebrate multi-day festivals.

News imageJOANNA TAYLOR/BBC Abhishek Srivasdava smiling and looking at the camera. He is wearing a white shirt and brown fleece. There is an out of focus classroom behind him. JOANNA TAYLOR/BBC
Abhishek Srivasdava said a permanent base is needed for Hindus in the county

"We're looking for social harmony; bringing everybody together," he says when speaking of the existing proposal.

"We would request they provide us a dedicated space," he adds.

Reverend Beth Cope, from the Northstowe Church Network, says her group has a "track record of working well together" with Hindus in Northstowe after having organised community events together including a Remembrance Day Service.

"There are four sites in Northstowe and we long to see every faith group have their home, but in the meantime where we've got shared spaces and where there's gaps in the schedule we'd love anybody to talk to us about booking those spaces," she said.

South Cambridgeshire District Council is due to finalise awarding a 999-year lease on the land on Tuesday.

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