Hindu YUVA provides a spiritual space for students at UCD

This month, Hindu YUVA aims to foster connection and build community 

By HELENA BIRBROWER — arts@theaggie.org 

October is Hindu Heritage Month, which also holds the festival of Navratri. For Hindu YUVA board members Medha Rao, a fourth-year biomedical engineering major, and Ananya Gupta, a fourth-year psychology major, the month also offers an opportunity to reflect on their experiences since joining the student organization and its community.

When Rao began her first year at UC Davis, she initially expressed ambivalence to Gupta regarding how large a role she wanted Hinduism to play in her undergraduate experience. 

“I dragged her to the first meeting,” Gupta said. “[She told me that] she didn’t want to be super religious in college.”

However, Gupta pushed back against Rao’s concerns. 

“I had just gotten here, but I really wanted to find a group of students who, like us, were stepping away from home for the first time,” Gupta said. “We were all just trying to preserve our identities and community as best we could.”

As it turns out, attending that first meeting was an influential choice for the two friends. Today, Rao serves as the club’s president, and Gupta serves as its secretary.

“There are a lot of Indian and South Asian cultural clubs [at Davis], but they appeal more to general audiences, and don’t focus on religion,” Rao said. 

While she acknowledges the value of these events, Rao stated that a focus on increasing “mass appeal” can dilute traditional practices and further limit the already minimal amount of true Hindu representation. 

“[There are] so many churches around Davis, and I’ve seen Bet Haverim, the Jewish place of worship, and the Islamic center, but I’ve not seen a single Hindu temple,” Gupta said. “It’s very important that we make something on campus for students because the city has not provided any sort of space for us.”

These ideas are central to the philosophy of Hindu YUVA, an organization with chapters across the country, including at UC Davis. Its tenets, as stated on their website, are to promote, protect, preserve and practice Hinduism. 

Rao told The Aggie that Hindu YUVA’s UC Davis chapter strives to honor that philosophy through the many club events they offer each year. 

“We host philosophy discussions where we talk about concepts such as colonialism and how the education system has been shaped due to Hinduism in India,” Rao said. “We try to bring up topics that most people try to ignore. People try to say, oh, [the British colonial period] was an unfortunate time, but we don’t want to discuss it. We at Hindu YUVA want to actually bring these discussions out loud.”

In addition to these conversations, Hindu YUVA hosts a Diwali celebration every year.

The club also provides their members with opportunities for community service. “We go out to this small ashram in Sacramento,” Gupta said. “It’s a community spot, and we help with their landscaping, and then they provide us with sessions in meditation.”

October is a busy month for Hindu YUVA. To celebrate Hindu Heritage Month, the club is launching a social media campaign where board members answer people’s questions about Hinduism. 

“I feel like there’s a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation out there about Hinduism,” Gupta said. “Hopefully, with our social media series, we can spread awareness and wisdom.”

Additionally, the Hindu holiday Navratri takes place this month. The word “Navratri” translates to “nine nights,” and focuses on the worship of the goddess, or the divine feminine. The festival culminates on the tenth day with a festival called Vijayadashami, also known as Dasara, which marks the victory of good over evil. 

Those interested in getting involved with Hindu YUVA can follow the club’s Instagram account, @hinduyuva_at_ucd, to learn more about Hinduism and apply to join its board. 

Written by: Helena Birbrower — arts@theaggie.org