The writer has an extremists view of culture and about how things ought to be... culture is very difficult to constrain and define, whenever such attempts have been made it has destroyed the very fibre the culture was woven out of; set it free and it would enrich itself... India has a long way to go and she is in the process of growth and self realization, through this very growth she would discover her true self. Besides, India is a nation of 1.2 billion views, the authors view is just one of them... not trivializing his views, but would suggest a pinch of salt.
Our culture should not be compared to the western culture.We give importance to every human being and think that GOD resides in the soul of every human being.On the other hand,the western culture is a materialistic culture and it encourages competition which is destroying our culture.I know that in today's context it is not practical to give up western culture,but we cannot and must not forget our culture.We can achieve the status of a developed country without abandoning our basic principles.We can be a superpower without compromising with our ideals.I cannot see Mother India crying.I hope the people of my country can understand what I am saying. Shoolbhrit Darshan
India is heading the right way, no doubt about it! What is disheartening is that it is moving very slowly!
We learnt equality, justice & democracy from west. We have yet to learn honesty, discipline, civic sense, punctuality & patriotism from west.
What is Indian culture? The Hindu culture?
Hinduism is miles away from culture. We donot want to go back to the injust & tyrranical Ram Rajya where even a Sita would be humiliated & Shambuka would be slain!
The so-called Indian culture was of no use to us. The sooner we throw it to dust-bin, the better it would be.
For creating new, old has to be destroyed fully! Do not cry over the dead weight of history & culture.
"there are great values in the Western world: Freedom, democracy, equality (not always though), respect for the environment, less corruption. And India must, and has already borrowed from these qualities....what else you could say mr..francois..we are learning to respect environment for the west...............
the author forgot why west is respecting the nature... because these countries have destroyed most..they exploited everything and now when the problem started they pretend to convey the msg that these countries are paying respect to environment.....!!!! and they worry for imblance of the nature in recent past... this article is bogus
YES and NO both . India had certain weaknesses also in the past history and so could be invaded and looted time and again. That has to be checked . And IITs and IIMs help in that. Scientific temper is indispensable and can't be ignored. India must develope its "own language" whatever it is . Preserve ,study and enrich the 'cultural ethos'. Adopt the 'Good Values Only' of the 'West'. Everything of west is not bad. Make 'Political System' more relevant , mature,just and People Responssive'. More and more can be done .
All said and done evey Indian needs to remember that he is basically a human being, get over the superiority/inferiority psyche and work like a sincere Ape Man striding up for his piece of cake in the Universe.
LIKE HIS PREDECESSOR; GRAND PA APE MAN ! HE WAS MORE PRACTICAL WITH HIS SMALL BRAINS.
No wool gathering,phobias,hallucinations !
"Extricate from the past......Surge towards Universality".
No religion, no caste, no creed no dual personalities.
' Dhum chudaake bhaago'...Release your tail and run for life !!!!!
RE:La Revue de l'Inde ????? ..... No....... India of the Universe!
by vijay ranjan on May 11, 2007 09:43 PM Permalink
nice reply. we are not aping west . we are trying to tame imperialistic mindset of some european fathers. In France we do not pay 1 euro for 350 kilometers (chennai to pondichery ) in france we pay 3 euros for one kilometer. A kilo of tomotoes cost 2 euros and in india 10 centimes. In france people eat beef and in india we do not. In france people dislike dark colored people not in india.
In France people have waged war against cheap products from east. NOt in india. we cosidered atithi devo bhava and what happened in the end that that atithi started feeling that he is the owner of house so we requested them to go back in their country. In france they called people from east to work in mines and toilets. and now they tell their grandchildrens to leave France because they are slightly darker than them. jai bharat
I agree with the author that proselytising is bad and is happening in a large scale in India. Something has to be done to stop this. But if the Christian proselytisers are saying that it is a sin to enter temples, So did the Brahmins themselves say to the other Hindus. Some repentance and proper acceptance of all Hindus by the Brahmins is a necessary pre-condition if one really wants to save this religion.
Secondly, the Aryans, who themselves came to India from some other place, have never been really able to adopt themselves wholly ino this Great land whose soil, air and water are filled with nothing but love. Indian culture is a very inclusive culture. Indian culture is the culture of Love and affection and acceptance of others. That is why the original Indians (descendants of the People of Indus Valley civilisation) accepted the Aryan so easily but the Aryans have never been able to accept others who came after them.
The Indus - Hakra Ghaggar civilisation was a very urbanised and highly industrialised civilisation where egalitarianism was practised, and there was respect for wone. While the Aryan settlements were rural and fully based on agriculture and animal husbandry and they also introduced all vices in India like Prostitution, bonded labour, caste system, Niyoga, house-wifing etc. The Aryans, who considered themselves superior to the native Indians shut the Indians out of their settlements and called them 'Chandala and Mlechcha'. They constructed towers over the places of worship of the Indians and threw the Indians away.
Subsequently, India was invaded numerous times by numerous invaders of different ethnicities and different religions. They killed, they looted and they converted and destroyed places of worship. But the original Indians, who have been in this part of the world, since the time man evolved from monkeys, still practices Love and acceptance.
If a killer is pardoned, it is not a failure of any system, but an example of forgiveness, which is very much a part of the LOVE, understood the Indian way.
The basic Indian culture has survived numerous invasions, including the Aryan invasion, the attacks by various medieval kings (largely muslim), the British, the Dutch, the portugese etc.
I have faith that it will survive Globalisation too. And, please, Indian culture is not simply about worshipping cows and Brahmins. Not about Osho and Premananda alone. It is about LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE, SIMPLICITY AND HARD WORK. It is about the ordinary Indian, who doesn't realise the difference between the different religions.
RE:Culture cannot be lost
by Gautam Joshi on May 16, 2007 02:57 PM Permalink
Beautiful words...wish all the human beings on the earth could really understand and practice what you have just mentioned above.
RE:Culture cannot be lost
by VENURAJA Bowenpalle on May 29, 2007 03:03 PM Permalink
Aryans did not come somewhere else. It was a myth perpetuated by Westerners because they want to take credit for Vedas and they want rule India forever by buying its soul. Aryans invasion was proved to be only a fiction. Next comes the powerful Indian culture. Women is worshipped only in India , there is no country and no civilization can boast of this. In India woman is worshipped not just in temples but in the houses also on specific occassions. The raw,the crude Hinduism is the pure one as compared to a westernised,urbonised Hinduism propagated by latest Godmen like Jiddu Krishnamurthy or Acharya Rajaneesh or even Amritananday mayi or Swami Rama. The most crude ,original raw form of Hinduism is represented by Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and his desciple Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda was the first person in India to start a Mission of Hindu religion. Ramakrishna Mission still works on the same principle of raw and simple Hinduism. You would have an idol and you would worship the idol and chant 1000 sahasra nama of the god. Can any western power or globalisation or any type of modernism or the whole world of christian missioneries destroy Hinduism? It is absolutely impossible and you do not need to be a genius to understan this. Western world is big myth. It is the maha maya. We do not want their unhappy culture.
RE:Culture cannot be lost
by Abhiroop Banerjee on Jun 20, 2007 03:45 PM Permalink
its great to read intelligent opinions from well, opinionated fellow countryfolk!
Although well intentioned, I do not understand the angsty outburst about the superiority of indian culture.
Manjula A's views were particularly interesting; though I wonder, is the term 'aryans' an euphemism for some other community that the writer has for the sake of political correctness not mentioned?
It is our slave mentality that needs someone from West to make us realize of our greatness. Mr Guatier keep up the good work. Future generations of India will appreciate your efforts.
its high time we wake up and throw politicians who exploit us in name of psuedo securalism.
