Besides the fact that India has become a world leader in beef and leather exporting, (meaning that cow protection, a pillar of Hindusim, is no longer important) and under increasing pressure of Westernization, the death blow may be the imbalance of males to females. While it may seem that preaching in India is booming, it might be likened to pulling up alongside the Titanic with a life boat — it will fill up fast. ISKCON may be winning battles in India, but it is losing the war.

Indian Journal of Community Medicine

“Female foeticide resulting in decline of child sex ratio has led to enforcement of Preconception and Prenatal diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) act since February 2003.”Sex ratio, an important social indicator measuring extent of prevailing equity between males and females in society, is defined as no. of females /1000 males. Changes in sex ratio refl ect underlying socioeconomic, cultural patterns of a society. As per 2001 census sex ratio in India is 933/1000 males, which continues to be significantly adverse towards women and is the lowest amongst 10 most populous countries in world. Russia tops the list in sex ratio (1140) followed by USA (1029)1.

“Most alarming is decrease in CSR (Child sex ratio [ages] 0-6). In Punjab the number was least (793) in 2001, followed by Haryana (820) and Chandigarh (845).

“Advances in technology and diagnostic facilities have opened up avenue for the girl haters leading to serious disturbances in sex ratio as a result of female foeticide.

“Desire for male child manifests so blatantly that parents have no qualms about repeated, closely spaced pregnancies, premature deaths and even terminating child before it is born. Birth of female child is perceived as a curse with economic and social liability2.Therefore the present study was conducted among married women dwelling in slums and semi-rural area to find out the level of their awareness regarding sex determination and attitude towards gender…

“Dowry is a major reason for parents to resent a daughter birth and moreover they think it is pointless to spend so much on a girl education and upbringing only to leave for anothers home, without repaying.”

With a more natural birth ratio, boys enjoy a buyers’ market. Taking out the gays, the monks, and the violent deaths, there has historically been more females of marrying age than males. Over a few centuries or millennium, this can skew cultural norms to favor males.

With the new emerging sex ratio, we are going to see a rapid shift where females become more prized due to their scarcity. This will turn the social structure in India upside down. There are already reports of families having to give dowries in order to obtain wives for their sons. Boys now becoming college age are facing a much different landscape than their fathers.

This will have a profound effect on cultural paradigms.

Due to Westernization, preaching strategies that depend on income from Hindus as the economic mainstay have at most 2 generations to play themselves out. It is a temporizing and short term solution, a rear guard action.

Better to concentrating on influencing Western culture, and not abandon completely preaching to Westerners, as Hindu youth are/will become Westernized themselves, both in the West and in India, and if we aren’t ahead of the curve, we will become irrelevant to them.