Ena's heart for youths

This advice came from Ena Maraj as she addressed a group of drama enthusiasts at the Divali Nagar site in Chaguanas on Wednesday. Ena urged the youths to stay focus in earning good education and also to realise their goals while they have the “essence of youth.”

“While we are young, we feel that we have all the time in the world to achieve. But time flies and before we know it we are middle-aged people,” she said.

She got full attention from everyone when she spoke about the youths of the nation who have gone astray. She said the people who are now criminals and those who are involved in drugs, did not have anyone to guide them in life.

“I urge you to look within yourself and try to bring forth your best. Don’t settle for anything less. You must always strive for excellence in everything you do,” she advised.

Ena has been conducting religious services at public temples and other institutions for many years now. She is known for quoting the verses of the Holy Ramayan and for explaining how these verses can apply to everyday life. She encouraged young people to foster a good relationship with God. As this, she says, will give them strength to deal with the problems that pop up from day to day. She said that people who don’t pray are weak.

“They can easily fall into the wrong path because they have alienated themselves from all that is good. This is what we have to be careful about,” she told her audience.

Ena has been performing community service throughout the country by means of her discourses from the Ramayan, Gita Garuda-Puran and other sacred texts. This has become a way of life for her.

Speaking on the Ramayan she noted that Lord Rama (the hero of the Ramayan) is a perfect example of a good human being. She urged people to get a copy of the English Ramayan and study it.

“This book will inspire people of all walks of life to live a more meaningful life,” she said.

On the topic of child abuse she said if someone destroys a church or any religious symbols they will be forgiven, but when they harm an innocent child then they will receive severe punishment at some point in time later in life. She warned the youths to be careful of strangers as “even the devil is very good looking.”

Born on March 25, 1959 at Red Hill, D’Abadie to Ramkissoon and Jesodra Ajodha, Ena always showed signs of being a leader. As a young girl she always took to the religious way of life. She claims that this devotion to God has helped her to deal with every problem she encountered in life.

She completed her education at Arouca Anglican School and later took up responsibilities at the family’s home business. After spending a number of years there, she married and started a family of her own. She and her husband parented three children, two boys and one girl — Davindra, Anita and Narindra.

Ena started singing bhajans (Hindi religious songs) at Pundit Lakshmi’s temple at Back Street, Tunapuna. She then moved on to other temples with her sacred songs. As she became more deeply involved in singing and devotion, her love grew even more for her religion. This gave her the impetus to study the Hindu language and she enrolled in a course at Kewley Street, Tunapuna. Her Hindi teacher Timal, was a scholarship winner who studied Hindi at a prestigious university in India.

In just a short while Ena became proficient in Hindi but was not satisfied with her accomplishment. She took up the challenge to study the Ramayan at El Dorado Shiva Mandir under Pundit Deosaran Sharma and her voice teacher was Kumar Sammy.

When Ena was going through her new studies, many trials and difficulties came her way, but she received great encouragement and inspiration from Daljit Moosai who was president of the Shiv Mandir. She confidently faced the hurdles and proved to be an outstanding student in class. She impressed everyone with her quick grasp of Hindi, her public speaking ability and her bhajan renditions.

Ena completed her Ramayan studies successfully and was ready to face new challenges. At that point, her lifelong desire to serve humanity was overwhelming. She therefore started moving about the country enlightening others with her messages.

She is the secretary of the Indian Women’s Group. Through this organisation she is involved in many social activities around the country. The group has been raising funds for children of the various orphanages and other children’s homes.

To relax Ena loves to cook and serve people. “There is something great in serving people food. You feel as if you can accomplish any endeavour when you can cook and people can sit and eat,” she said.

She noted that to feed large amounts of people is part of the Hindu tradition and she enjoys seeing people laughing and talking and having fun.

Now that her children are all grown, she spends all her time researching and lecturing.

“I feel good about life. Riches and wealth do not necessarily bring about happiness. I believe that when persons can accomplish their goals and live simply, they are the happier ones,” she said.

Ena is working on a book of quotations that will be released for Divali of this year.