A new Hindu temple has opened up on Home lawn street in Queens. However, this is not just a temple for people to pray, it’s a temple that tries to help people with their problems. For over twenty-five years, this non-profit organization has striven to uplift New Yorkers through meditation or yoga. They have worked to transform people’s lives, to alleviate men and women out of drug abuse, reinforcing the equal status of woman, and helping people in poverty.

Currently this temple had been looked down upon, mainly because people did not understand it. This temple was newly built in an area where not many people thought that there was a South-Asian population. Some people had thought it was a Mosjid rather than a temple. It would be interesting to shed light on what this temple really is and what it does for the community. But it also makes me wonder if they are helping the new community that they have moved into. Do people from the neighborhood visit the temple for help in their everyday problems? Not many people in the neighborhood are particularly interested in going into the temple. They think it is only for religious purposes instead of for everyone.

My main focus of this podcast would be, first, why specifically did they move into this area where there seems to be so little diversity in this neighborhood. Through this podcast, it might be able to show that the neighborhood is changing, there might be more South-Asian people moving to this area than people have thought. Another focus of the podcast would be what is the purpose of the temple. Since many people think it is just a regular church to pray, I thought it  would be best to express that it isn’t just a place for prayer but to help people who are in need, who are struggling with addictions, and who want to be at inner peace. I think it is important for the public to know because the temple could help people who need help. There are workshops, discourses, lessons, and one-on-one counseling for everyone. It is a welcoming atmosphere that I believe has been overlooked.

The people that I would most likely interview is a neighbor who did not know about the church, what he thought it would be in contrast to what the temple really is. I would then like to interview someone who works in the temple or goes to the temple regularly. I would like to try to have two sides of a story, where it shows the community doesn’t understand why the temple was built in this area compared to people who go to the temple and can tell the public what this temple is really for.