Our Culture

One day I was waiting for the bus to my home. Nearby was a college student holding his books. One of his books had few wordings behind it which caught my attention. It said that the East India Company before invading India had asked to conduct a survey. The person after his study reported that to conquer India, the first thing to break into was the richness of Indian Culture. There was no/minimal theft, suicide rate was negligible, people had challenges but they didn't see those as demons.

Now whether the East India Company was successful in sowing its seed or we lost track of our roots and its value, vast majority of the current generation is highly insecure deep within. The raising crime rates, suicides, psychiatric problems, violence etc are testament of the same.

The century long fight for freedom lasting for three generations resulted in paving way for a new generation that was stranded and unaware/uneducated about the value of its culture. The maturity level and perspectives started to shrink due to the lack of guidance by generations before (whose key focus was independence) and made them directionless. Mislead by our invaders, materialistic achievements and pleasures became the new benchmark of happiness but they didn't realize this was set at the cost of peace of mind, safety of the conscious and socioeconomic prosperity. Gradually, life became less for living and more of business focused on returns and profits.

The path of self discipline, contentment, and self realization may not be as flamboyant as the current scenario but on a macro perspective it is far more prosperous and yields rich dividend, both for the individuals and the society. Now, for the sake of argument, let's not pull in selected failures and differences and delay our enlightenment and re-establishing the richness of our culture. Let's not continue with failed practices but hold hands of our successful and prosperous culture by upgrading it for the current century and setting a glorious path for the generations ahead.

SATHISH N - Still more to come.....:-)