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What Is Indian Culture?
Coordinated By VEENA RAO
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The NRI Pulse survey question for September probes a very basic question that is relevant to the Indian Diaspora around the world. What is Indian culture? Is it our fine classical and folk dance forms, classical music, traditional clothes and food? Is it a certain 'set of values' we have carried with us from back home? Is it rapidly evolving with Indian society?
Is Indian culture, the culture of rural or small town India? Is Indian culture also the MTV culture of the Metros? Is the ever-changing face of Indian cinema a reflection of our culture? For that matter, is Indian cinema part of our culture?
What is Indian culture?
Over to our Readers:
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Old Things Have Had To Make Way For New
Among the predominant yuppie NRIs in the Atlanta area where I live, Indian culture has evolved to focus on Indian classical dance and music, traditional clothes like saris, lehngas and salwar kameez, and good food. They are willing to mix these with more modern western lifestyle, such as going to clubs, dancing, and partying. The values we have brought, such as monogamy, feeling responsible for aging parents, spending time with parents, etc. are rapidly eroding, as these are also eroding in India gradually.
India cinema, especially Bollywood movies and lately movies made in the West on Indian themes, also seem to help define Indian culture as it is now. Everybody thrives on watching ethnic movies and Hindi movies and usually the culture of rural or small town India is forgotten in this commercial jungle. Globalization has led to some kind of homogenization too--it does not matter if you grew up in a small town, when you decide to get your monthly facial or dye your hair brown. As for rural cultures, they are more isolated, but their art and artifacts have found greater attention.
On the whole, therefore, the culture is evolving. The food at Indian buffets abroad and in India is often more varied, multiethnic as well as western. Most old things have had to make way for the new, except in the innumerable pockets of India where changes have been few and where traditions may still vary. To me, true Indian culture is often history--besides the dance and music, the ability to adjust with relatives or give them leadership, the need to share resources, etc. have been made redundant by newer ways to earn a living. The culture of the joint family in which our parents grew up, is virtually extinct today
Dr Indrani Dutta-Gupta, Roswell GA
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Consumerism is Sweeping The Upper and Middle Class
Culture is defined as ‘a style of social and artistic expression peculiar to a society. It dictates behavior, etiquette and communication styles. It is fluid, evolving, undergoing a tectonic change and impacts Indians everywhere. Gandhi once said, “I do not want my house to be walled in on sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible.”
With the Government’s pursuit of continuing growth and globalization there is a dichotomy between quasi-socialist group who want to cling to old traditions, values, joint-family system, and lifestyle, rely on public sector help in jobs, farming, housing and so on. It is struggling in poverty, and illiteracy, finding it difficult to make headway because of rampant corruption, bureaucracy,
casteism, seniority and connections. On the other hand is the Americanizing, capitalist system, with the profit motive, where the young, urbanites want to get rich quickly and retire at an early age.
American culture is weakening traditional Indian culture. Consumerism is sweeping the upper and medium-class in the 8 to 60 group as never before. The tech-savvy, gadget crazy, wired, young generation born around computers, satellite TVS and Internet, flush with money from rewarding booming jobs in call centers, malls, restaurants and other service industries, believe in individualism, adventurousness and experimentation. Mobile phones, Sony flat TVs, digital cameras, designer watches, swanky cars, Hollywood flicks, and what have you, is order of the day. MTV culture is sweeping in metros-promoting kitsch. Bollywood has become a flourishing corporate entity. Actors and actresses have become national icons, even getting into politics. The media gives exaggerated publicity to these celluloid figures that influence the lifestyles and mannerisms of the yuppies. Traditional music, dancing and other art forms are moving towards ‘fusion’ of East and West and even North and South! It is not only the young generation. The veterans are also following the young. The roles have changed. Now it is the young advising the old! –how to use the mobile phone, how to drive a car, how to turn on TV, how to send an e-mail, how to use a digital camcorder and so on. Parents have become child-centric. They want the children to have the best and be the best. In a ruthless, competitive society, parenting has become a structures science. There is a plethora of toys, books, extra tuition and extra-curricular classes (soccer, swimming, cricket, yoga, dancing, etc) The pace has quickened. All of it is not desirable. In ‘anything goes’ society, drinks, drugs, sex, disrespect for elders and authority are posing a grave danger.
Mahadev Desai, Atlanta GA
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Values Passed Down To Us
Indian culture is definitely not the MTV culture and today's Indian cinema. It is
the age-old values and the way of life prescribed in the scriptures and
passed to us from generation to generation.
Sinduja Kosgi, Mundelein, IL
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Belly Dance Is Not Indian Culture!
Whatever be India's culture, it is definitely not Middle-Eastern belly dance. To
have belly dance for entertainment in general is one thing, but to have belly dance to showcase India's Independence Day is trash. There is something wrong going on with our leaders.... probably our IACA leaders need to be reminded that belly dance is Middle eastern culture and not Indian.... especially when one is celebrating India's Independence Day. What a message (of middle eastern belly dancing) to our youth during India's Independence Day??????????????? Whatever sells, I guess! Shame!
Subash Razdan, Atlanta GA
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Unabashed Showbiz and Pseudo Indian-ness
Indian culture is innate to modest living, a balanced way to noble thoughts, a puritan mind and heart and yes a code of conduct which bolsters one to hold his/her head high with self-esteem such that one could proudly exclaim it “own or original” and not borrowed.
Vivekananda, by virtue of his sole lecture soaked in Indian culture, singly perpetuated the Indian ethos in the hearts of
America(ns).
Ironically, some of our self proclaimed leaders, including the ones in town at
IACA, do not quite comprehend that grace and sobriety are imperative tenets of Indian culture far apart from unabashed showbiz and pseudo Indian-ness. They need to fathom the glory of Indian culture and endear it rather than propagate false pretensions and make a mockery of themselves as well as the rich culture.
Amitabh Sharma, Atlanta GA
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Bad Habits Do Not Contribute To Culture
Thank you for asking the right questions at a time our community is drifting into confusion over what our culture is all about. I have to admit that we are consciously talking about Indian culture today, only because we are so far away from home. There are two reasons for this:
1. We are concerned about losing our identity in this foreign land (of our choosing for various reasons), and
2. We do worry that our sons and daughters may end up lost in a no man's land, belonging neither here in the west, nor there in India.
It is quite possible that we may not be engaging this topic, had we never exposed ourselves to other ways of life. Living in a home away from sweet home, it is of foremost importance to us that we preserve our culture, just as it is to every proud society, be it Jewish, Christian, Islamic, European, African or Asian.
Having said all that, we have to ask ourselves this fundamental question: just what is culture; especially, how do we define one that we call Indian? Culture is not just one thing or another, but a multitude of different aspects of a region or a society, that have stood the test of time purely on the strength of their values, both social and religious. ''Value' is the key here because it had to be good enough to have been passed on from generation to generation. Thus by definition, culture is a collection of a set of values, traditions and customs affecting a population's way of living, art forms, cuisine, attire and attitudes.
Can there be a 'bad' culture, after all? In my opinion, the answer is no, because 'bad' and 'culture' do not go together. We call only a refined individual a 'cultured' person. A bad person simply 'lacks' culture, rather than being of a 'different' culture. We must be careful when we hear of the political coinages such as 'culture of poverty', 'culture of violence', 'drug culture', 'gun culture' etc. as they are merely convenient descriptions for social deteriorations and aberrations. Along the same lines, what we call 'MTV culture' is an aberration that is more like a bad habit. Bad habits do not contribute to culture, but strong values do. If one thinks pushing and even violating the boundaries of decency is how culture is evolved, it is wishful thinking at best. Since you brought up the question of metro and village aspects, I have to say that they are merely different lifestyles, that can still uphold the same Indian cultural values. As for Indian cinema, I think it is an entertainment medium gone awry, shamelessly calling itself this, that or other "-wood" depending upon which way you turn; neither a reflection of the Indian society, nor a good model for it either (not that one expects it to be, anyway).
I think Indian culture is defined by
· our classical arts of music, sculpture, paintings and dance,
· the collective wisdom of our scriptures and literary treasures,
· our diverse linguistic resources evolved from ancient times,
· our traditional dresses of various regions, as colorful as the land itself,
· our elaborate social customs and rituals that pervade all aspects of life,
· a value system that emphasizes respect to elders and regards parents and teachers as next to God,
· a diverse cuisine that is distinctly spicy,
· the blend of modesty and braveness in our women,
· the strong bonds that our joint family system fosters,
· the keen interest the elders take and the long term role they play in making a good future for their children, and
· above all the tri-color that binds us in the patriotic fabric giving that unmistakable feeling "I am Indian, and proud of it!".
Nagi C. Natarajan, Alpharetta, GA
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Culture Is A Set Of Values
Jaan jaaye, par maan na jaaye!( you can take my life but no compromises on my value system) That is what in my opinion really encompasses the cultural ethos of this diversely rich nation.
We are not talking of the man on the street or the multi-millionaire. We are talking of a set of values that all Indians have imbibed by virtue of being born an Indian.
Traditional music, dance and other art forms also form the basis of this rich Indian experience. There is no denying that a small number of Indians have adopted the MTV culture of the West but it certainly does not speak of the multitude.
Contemporary cinema does in a way reflect the true spirit of Indian culture but surely modern-day cinema can't venture to get close! Like they say HERO BAN
GAYA ZERO!
Paromita Sengupta, Kolkata, India
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Doing As You Are Entrusted To Do
When Indira Gandhi was assassinated, I was more upset about the fact that
she was assassinated by a bodyguard than the fact that she was killed. To me it was against everything I believed in as Indian value; to do just the opposite of what you are entrusted to do.
Achamma Chandersekaran, Vienna, VA
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