What is it about Hinduism that attracts people with a scientific mindset, such as our guest on this episode of Buzz by the Bay, Swami Vigyananand. The founder and chairman of the World Hindu Foundation and joint general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Vigyanand was a graduate of IIT who decided to drop it all to become a swami.
Though he personally leads an austere life, he believes the need of the hour for Hindus is to gain more influence and prominence globally. Acting on this need, Vigyanand finds himself as the chief organiser of the World Hindu Congress and the World Hindu Economic Forum to be held in December 2024 at Jio World. In conversation with Anushka Jagtiani, the swami speaks about how India's youth should be job givers and not jobseekers, and how our society owes businessmen more respect. Swamiji says that the Hindu community globally has become a dandiya-garbabhangra community. While in favour of it, he believes that it is not something that commands respect. He instead believes that our economy has to be our strength.
What is the objective of the World Hindu Economic Forum?
Any society that wants to progress and get respect and dignity has to focus on four key areas economy, education / academia, media and politics. The World Hindu Economic Forum (WHEF) is one where we focus on the economy. As a society, historically, Bharat was producing 33% of the world's GDP. During the British era we lost all our economic strength. Once you become economically poor, all the diseases like cholera, malaria, etc start spreading. Post-independence we adopted the Nehruvian economic model and we missed the opportunity of growth in the post-Second World War era. Every other country became rich and prosperous. Why do people go to America not because it's so great, but because it is economically prosperous. We need to focus on that.
How many years have you been organising the WHEF? What is your theme this time?
We have been working worldwide since 2012 and have hosted it in Hong Kong, London, Bangkok, Los Angeles, Chicago, Durban and Australia. This is the first time we are hosting it in India as we have a good venue now. There are a few core areas of focus. Firstly, for business growth you need global market access. Secondly, we have to ensure affordable capital for businesses in India. The third area is technology integration.
