Western Influencs & Indian Culture!

Culture literal meaning is what how you cultivate or build oneself. Cult or build in multi-directionally i.e in ethically socially even in all aspects of that lead human development. Every culture is enriched with some good and bad features.
Indian culture has been known for its tolerance while western culture don't have any such social evils which we have like purdah dowry men dominated society etc. but the thing that makes us stand apart is our flexiblity to accept the some good features of other culture.
A great change which we have being notiching is that women are contributing shoulder to shoulder in every field along with men.

So i would say No! Old is Gold....

Dear Pamod,

Just one aspect is not sufficient to appreciate.

Remove the "Excessive SELF SERVICING orientation" from an Indian and things may immediately start to fall in place. This trait is is not part of culture but an anomaly caused by slave mentality feeling forever insecure.

Agree with your thoughts Mr Sinha,

And it is this lack of reasoning and conviction to follow the best practices, patience in explaining to next generation  that is responsible for degradation. The best and most precious of artifacts as well demands cleaning, polishing and attention.

Are we ready to indulge in doing anything akin for our culture and heritage?

The answer is no because neither is this taught in schools, nor the adopted best choice of most parents, inclination to tread, thus not providing the requisite morality to preach.

In my opinion it should not about superior or inferior rather it is about society or can say society formation or acceptance. We all knew we do follow certain ethics and tradition according to our social formation, and I feel every individual should respect his/her own culture. Yes! i do understand that there can be some drawbacks or some loopholes in any culture but it develops and changes with time, sync, understanding and circumstances. But, one must give his 100% to protect his identity. That is what is more important, and we know that, In our cuture we respect women but we all know that there was a tradition of "sati" few years ago. with time we realized this meanace and eradicated from our tradition. So, See if chages are for good cause than we should welcome it but not at the cost of our identity. It is very simple "If i respect your culture i expect same from your side". Indian culture is the oldest one and has sign of existense before pre-historic age. I feel very amused some time and feel proud on the knowledge base we have in forms of litreture, it reflects the development and prosperity of the civilization in that era, and most importantly it has not lost its significance yet. :) 

Most of those who claim to follow West, actually may not have a complete understanding of how much they value and respect Indian value system.

Would any day prefer to utilize energies in trying to remove the anomalies from our cultural values, which years of disuse may have brought to bear upon and make efforts to bring back the glory that it forever enjoyed.  

First of all i would like to add another dimension in this debate that is best practices in human civilization. This is all about practise which we can term tradition or culture. There is no doubt that our ancesotrs had clear visio about life and they set some guideline according to their experiences. In fact it wudnt be wrong if i say that our ancestors gave enough importance to science and human values, culture both. But yes there are some old values or myth which needs to eradicated as it cant adjust in the social harmony, where now in modern era adjustment is everything. Yes! there are some practices from west which need to applaud and need to integrate but need to check if that is not violating our own.

Our young generation is quite capable to hadle it and they know how to respect our tradition but that should not take place under any pressure, Gen "Y" knows the significance of our culture but need to make them more aware and who better than the parents "the greatest institution in anyone's life" can deliver it....

Old is gold...............I really support u .. Mr Philip and Sarika madam for your every single word supporting this view for the debate.....

..

First of all, I'd like to ask a simple question. On what basis are you naming Indian culture to be "OLD". Our culture is not OLD. It is evergreen. We taught the world how to live and now we ourselves are forgetting it..How shameful!!! Even the westerners are getting attracted towards our culture nowadays....Can't we still understand the importance of our culture ? The importance which we ignored, foreigners are accepting today....Its not too late now...We can still revive our culture back.

Western culture has affected almost every dimension of Indian society…Technological development is essential for India today. With the advent of cable TV and the Internet, urban India is very well connected with the rest of the world and is abreast with the latest happenings and goings on. We need wealth to make our lives comfortable and to improve our quality of living, but at the same time we must remember that in the process of acquiring the above, we must never lose our power of distinguishing right from wrong, good from evil, and must allow the ecclesiastical to rule over the material.

why would you stay away from the main stream.you can have a mix of two.when you are inside your house you have your own culture to save.

when you are outside you have to follow th e society.

Thats a great point that you have brought up Mr. Abbott.

Mr. Abbott, Thank you. Your last statement deserves to be crowned!! Thank you for your valuable input!

I like your closing!! :))

I think it was a fitting comment to an explosive debate. Thanks a lot for your valued thoughts and comments too.

A big thank you to all of you for the participation! :)

No... but neither the East. The culture and habits develop according to natural needs. e.g. Why people in Rajasthan do not eat rice and those in Bengal eat only rice? Rainfall, land is the answer. Why "lungi" is popular in south of India as formal dress...heat and humidity etc. You can not say which is best. It is difficult for me to explain that why they shake hands in west and why we either say "namaste" or embrace each other when we meet. But if researched reasons may be found. Tea, a symbol of life style, is not produced in west but was discovered by British (at least in India). But the mannerism of drinking tea differs. Milk is essential for us, black tea is elite or faishonable. Many Indians dislike pot tea...the boiled one is preferred etc. How can you say which is better?

But yes what we should realise as Indians is that we, the modern Indians, lack integrity w.r.t. what has been preached and practiced by our ancestors.

R R Roy and B G Tilak were social reformists. There was a huge reason for their actions. The idea of educating the woman and the fact of abolishing evil practices on women that was a part of the culture at that time were social evils that RR Roy was educating people to fight against against. He was successful to a very large extent.

B G TILAK, started celebrating Ganesh festivals from the jail that he was in for a sole cause ... "Gather people together, spread the word of independence and awaken the spirit to fight against oppression"... That was his ideology for forming such social groups. Today it is imbibed in our culture to celebrate Ganesh festival, Diwali etc but it has taken a turn of wasted revelry and interests. The religious nature has given way to tipplers dancing in the processions. That is not what B G Tilak had advised. So what do we attribute that too?? See let me again explain here, I am not asking or seeking for justification of better cultures, I am ytalking about How much INFLUENCES should be allowed consciously by the Junta???

Is it that difficult to understand???

As for Andaman & Nicobar, lets be radical about our thoughts please. Though the intention behind the subject change is indeed noble.

Nevertheless, thanks all of you for participating. Not only are there a lot of divewrse issues present in todays thoughts within todays people, but let me assure you NONE OF US really know where we as Indians are headed!! There is no true identity that we are adhering to.  

Welcome Ms. Kaladeen. I like the frankness in your answer. Thanks a lot for your valuable participation! :))

Victor

I critiqued my own comment [previous to the last one] and the question (on tribals) struck me to which i still don't have a satisfactory answer

what i could manage to explain myself was that:
what one culture may presume moral or good may be considered foolish or bad by another.There's not a universal GOOD or BAD while opining about cultures.

why governments spend so much money on preserving the culture of tribals?
if it's all about comforts,progress & winning, why shouldn't they shun their cultures and adopt ours?

that thumbs down attempt was to take the debate to the next level :-)

In response to your latest comment:

1. Who gets to decide the pluses and minuses when both these terms are relative in nature.

2. Cultures definitely have to change, and nobody can deny that.The  question here is that should our culture change be influenced & governed by the west?

Now coming to the point of helping the common man!! Do I really need to answer that question at all?? I can cite enough examples that you have in your comments mentioned about them. A Raju is just a drop in the ocean and I am glad to see that Satyam still floats. Time will ny all means level all that has been done by that man! The others who have been true will be rewarded. 

It is filling up, and filling up fast!! :)) The smallest car by Tata endoresed as a wonder by the world... Well its all happening!! Like I said the leader we need to lead will be there to lead us all. Obama giving examples of India and China is in no way a small achievement. HE sees a threat there and he mentions it albeit veiled! 

:))

in my opinion, this debate is digressing owing to it's complex nature.

as an attempt here's a poser:

should the tribals of andaman & nicobar( or those around the Amazon)  adopt western culture?

Its condescending to even think like that!! If at all my comment there reeked of, it reeked of disgust.. Lets not touch the topic of self respect at all!! I have enough to know about it and talk about it too!

Its just that I can really see you looking at my comments with horse's eyes! UNIDIRECTIONAL! And yes, bulldozing comes easy to westerners :))

Anyway, a 100 companies after being trampled by the westerners is indeed amazing progress. And 100 handfuls will make thousands of hopefuls, who will be another 100 handfuls... Its not going to take time now at all. So really watch out. It was nice of you to skirt around the particular Indian who made it possible though!! Hard to digest it sometimes!!

There is always a direction, the direction of thoughts which are bred by teachings and skills and of course recognotion of these puts you in the direction that you ought to take!! Why should I change my direction to how the wind blows, I just need to create enough mental strength, keep faith in my beliefs, my trusts and my goal... I am sure there will be a Moses who will be in me to part these winds and make way for myself!

The big question is, whether the destination is in the direction of the wind??

History needs to be accepted as a reality where you may learn a lot about the who, when, why and how? That would simply put give a lot of directions to ones thoughts and actually make way for a beautiful future! But changing attitudes alone cannot be a solution to influences on the self!! Attitude does not make a man, its the habit that makes him! If winning is my habit, that is my attitude! :))

Mr. Kumar,

good to have you here :))

I think I have addressed your comment as well along woth Viktor! 

Welcome Dhananjay!! Even for selfish reasons, good to have you by my side :))

There will be an actual Indian Dream!! :)

Yoga, Ayurveda, Indian Cuisine all being embraced largely all over the globe. Yes we are a global community today. But at what cost is my quest?? At the cost of our hard earned freedom?? At the cost of talent being imported by other countries?? Feng Shui paved way for Vaastushastra to be reinvented here! We have a more studied approach to Vaastu, I am proud of it!! :))

Thanks a lot ....

Alka, even if there were devils in our society and still are, the evils in our culture are being thrown out. I can confidently say that we are embracing a more civilised route by abolishing practices like Sati, child marriages, dowry etc. But at the same time do we leave our house without once praying in front of our gods?? That is what has been taught to us! The morals of Mahabharat, The wise advice of the Bhagwad Gita, the sacrifice in Ramayan all these are examples of high moral and tactful behavior!

Should that be just forgotten?? How many of us know at least one adhyay of the Geeta?? Its sad that I am also one of the culprits. 

Welll to make a long story short, sticking to ones values and then embracing another culture can be done provided we do not disgrace our own values handed down to us!! :))

Viktor,

Its the trees that count today. Forests are being destroyed. I think making each tree count is good for health today! :)) Jokes apart, yout point noted!

"... because we let them!:.. Thats your first para. We let them because generally speking, Goras have a habit of bulldozing their way through. They did that with us too. Caught us napping!! Didnt they?? Not proud of it but eventually a man of principles and culture did the inevitable!!! The Mahatma. He was Indian, spoke Indian and delivered Indian! for me he will remain eternal.

Now coming back to why we are afraid of the Goras?? Its not afraid, I have explained. Its AWE! Its that dumbstruck attitude that we show. Its the stupid grin that we have on our faces even today when a Gora says "dhaniyawad... " in his foreign accent!! Its goofy and foolish! Yet we remain in awe!! We are thrilled if the west speaks of us. Our interviewers of Hollywood stars always have the eternal question included in their questionnaire... "DO you know Bollywood?"... What is that?? See what I mean??

Anyway, we have got an amazing array of Indian conglomerares going global. We have the brand, we have the intelligence and we also have VALUES!! Bot that these are non existent around us... but we care!! Its said that "Atithi Devo Bhavah!!", and we welcomed the goras. Our culture bound us. They destroyed us thinking we were weak... Sorry wrong number ... oopps wrong country code... They were driven out!! Our culture has taught us a lot, our culture is rich even richer than most! What we do not have is a good leader. A ,am who we can look upto leading us on all fronts. Once that vacancy is fulfilled.... Well watch out for us Indians!!

:))
Over to you. 

Morals are based on principles. Principles that become imbibed and establishes a pattern of behavior and thought in an individual. That influences his conduct within the society and if good people emulate him or try to!! Behavior is independent to a large extent on circumstances. Sometimes morals or even principles need to be sacrificed to FIT in a certain circumstance. Now, these circumstances can be forced or self cultivated, behavior here in such scenarios decides ATTITUDE!!

We are far away from that! We are not touching attitude here. We are touching the INFLUENCES on teh MORALS and LEARNINGS that decide our behavior... notwithstanding the circumstance.

UC happened in Bhopal in 1984. It was GORY to say the least! Was the Govt of India ready to take the necessary steps in terms of dealing with a FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTOR at that time?? Were we even remotely rady to deal with the T&C's to safe guard our interests?? I suppose Mr. Vanayam would be in a position to enlighten us. But, UC got away scot free. How is that related even remotely to attitude?? It has to do with FEAR of dealing with the "GORAS" at that time. We were and still are in awe of the FOREIGNERS from across the seas!! One step in the lobby of any FIVE STAR deluxe hotel in India would let us know how we even today BEND backwards in the name of hospitality!! (Been there for about 11 years, thankfully in Sales and not the Front of the House!!) And we are talking about 1980's.

Gammon India... thats a huge faux pas that the Govt of India has done but with corruption anything can happen and we are not opposed to such debacles here are we?? But is that the culture of western giants like Gammon, UC etc??? It si not "bhagwan ki marzi", it is more like "arey woh log to phoren se hai, unko jyaada maloom hai, hum log unki sunte hai!".... Thats the awe I am talking about. 

No, I think your answer doesnt even paertain to the word "influences" here Viktor. You have to talk about whether we stick to Indian culture and not allow western influencs to change it. Or have we already adapted the changes????]

Over to you. :)

None of these sectors needed Western culture to blossom.  We have truth and testimonials to prove that it has percolated to all these sectors to achieve the desired effect.  As and Engineer from HMT( one of the ten largest manufacturers of machine tools in the world at that time) I have experienced the rigors of our technology and how we were into colloboration with High Technology from Western Countries.  There should be no hesitation in confirming that we lacked entrepreneurial approach.  The wide gate opened to us when EOU started, which liberally allowed imports to augment their expertise.  Unfortunately HMT is an orphan and  has become a miniscule today. This analogy holds good for all the other sectors.

As Victor rightly pointed out, there's no neutral playground here.I am on the right side for real estate reasons :-)

I wish to put forward certain facts/observations in the light of Makrand's and Victor's comments.

1. Prior to 17th century -India was the biggest economy of the world.The westerner used to have an 'Indian Dream' just like indians have an 'American Dream' in our times.

To expect a citizen of a dream country to migrate to a dreamers country is expecting too much.

2.The west, in the name of culture, was better known as wild west.But the industrialization of the west (though funded by the plundering of the east) gave them an upper edge,a better lifestyle & leap on the Maslow's heirarchy.As a result, art and culture renaissance was bound to happen and did happen.

3.India became one of the poorest economies by the time the british left.Self-professed scholars of Indology (like Max Muller) ensured that the culture and legacy of India never got it's due respect within and without.

But that is past,and only for the purpose of explaining where & how we lost confidence & touch of our culture and heritage.

What's delightful to notice in our good times is that we are a global community.

Good & beneficial things are no longer the responsibility OR copyright of  any one nation or community.

Yoga enters west , and no max muller can stop it.

Feng shui is more popular in India than in china!

we are almost there - 'Vasudev Kutumbakam' [The whole world is my family]

Right Viktor!

I am on Old is Gold!

It is indeed not a WAR of civilizations as you have noticed. It is a matter of individuality. It is a matter of identification. Its a matter of WHO AM I?

Looking at the way we are behaving today, physically, we have no identity as an Indian. How are we differentiated with the world or the west?? Its becuase of our rich culture and heritage. What is heritage??

"practices that are handed down from the past by tradition; "a heritage of freedom".. web definition.

By emulating the west we are exposing the fact that we have been influenced by the rulers of the western world. When joint families are being abhorred today, in work culture we talk about collaborations!! Isnt that an irony?? When people travelled to explore and discover, they fought with instincts against nature. Survival, meant that people believed in their proqwess. Why did people have advisors who could predict with them in yesteryears?? Superstition was rampant and thats how beliefs were dtrengthened. Why are people reverting to the same story today albeit its like OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLE!! The old adage LWAYS RINGS TRUE!

Its not a question of adaptability anymore, its purely a question of convenience. Attitude is a completely different issue. Morals, behavior and conduct are the questions that I am asking here!!

Over to you Viktor!

Mr. Kumar. Welcome!

I agree to your first para whole heartedly. Maharaja Ranjit singh would be a prime example from the British Raaj. He loved cricket!! 

Coming to the development of Education, traditions, media, infrastructure, industries, Health, Insurance, Hospitality, Tourism etc do you really feel that all these sectors required western influence to blossom?? Or is it that it was lacking initiative from our own side and the entrepreneurial nature to take that first bold step?? India is a country that has diversities in beliefs, traditions and even though processes. 

Do you really attribute our growth to western influences?

Please do not mind seeing my dialogue box on both sides of the argument!! :)

Viktor, good thoughts as examples. But I really want to know from your view point what is the real case? You must be in touch with the goings on in INdia on a daily basis as also with people of all ages, do you really see any difference in a person of say 45 years and a person of say 25 years?? If yes, what is your experience?

Please do not hold yourself back even if it means criticising the deliberate use of slang nd accent style. Thank you for participating.

I would say that "old is gold". If we listen to the great speeches of Barrack Obama during his compaign trail, he emphasizes on good culture. Barrack Obama very frequently refers the culture in India and China etc. He seeks to change the culture in America. Again, the opinion varies from person to person. As far as I am concerned, I support Indian culture and I would say no to 'western culture or western influence".