A discussion on culture is very interesting because it is connected to the life of every common and educated man. Culture simply refers to the people's way of life. It includes our behaviour, way of thoughts, attitudes, food habits, dress etc. Who is not interested in discussing his own behaviour, thoughts, food and dressing style? And who does not boast in wellness and supremacy of his own styles and habits?
We boast in the supremacy of our culture because it is our heritage. It is the style which we inherited from our forefathers. We are eating the food which is peculiar to our region. We speak more in our local language. we observe religious ceremonies the way our fathers and grand fathers observed. Our manners of according welcome even for strangers is our heritage. In this way everything we own in our life out of genetic control is inherited from our forefathers.
But a discourse is now on stage. If heritage is our culture then man will be primitive in all period of time. Man will always follow obsolete systems and way of life. Before many generations our forefathers only covered their private parts. They were hunters and gatherers. They bred cattle and considered it as their main source of life. They considered water and cow as pure and sacred. But depending on these things for our daily life is not possible in modern times. We can respect cow and water but we want changes in our patterns of earning livelihood. We want to make use of modern ways of enjoyment. We want to enjoy modern ways of cooking. We go on picnic on holidays. We dress modern to match with the customs and traditions which fascinate modern people.
Yes, culture is our heritage. But we respect our heritage and we follow a modern way of life.
We would like to form a middle path between modernity and heritage. Everybody agrees that we need changes in our way of life. Why do we reject good things which are beneficial for our life. using computer makes our life easy. Using mobile makes communication very faster. These facilities bring unimaginable changes in our day to day programs and we can perform big jobs with less efforts. Nobody will reject these changes in their personal life. Technical innovations are borrowed by man from his fellow beings without any hesitation.
But there is another question of morality or cultural values. Many technical innovations affect cultural values of various communities. Internet and mobile phone application promotes western culture such as western dressing style and western style of greeting. There are many cultural aspects which are admired by modern educated population living in India. many such cultural aspects are being borrowed by the local population. For instance wearing pants, jeans and T-shirts became common being influenced by western media which is circulated via internet and mobile applications. Many of Indian women wore loose robes during the medieval period. They considered wearing tight jeans and T-shirts as a cultural deviance in early times. Only elder generation who advocate heritage of India wear loose robes in modern times. At last we conclude that the foreign elements of culture also transformed as part of our cultural over a period of time. But constituent elements of our culture which were part of the culture of our forefathers is our heritage. The rest is foreign and accommodated by one portion of native population and rejected by another portion. However, culture is changing over time through cultural diffusion or interaction with people who belong to another culture.
But there is another question of morality or cultural values. Many technical innovations affect cultural values of various communities. Internet and mobile phone application promotes western culture such as western dressing style and western style of greeting. There are many cultural aspects which are admired by modern educated population living in India. many such cultural aspects are being borrowed by the local population. For instance wearing pants, jeans and T-shirts became common being influenced by western media which is circulated via internet and mobile applications. Many of Indian women wore loose robes during the medieval period. They considered wearing tight jeans and T-shirts as a cultural deviance in early times. Only elder generation who advocate heritage of India wear loose robes in modern times. At last we conclude that the foreign elements of culture also transformed as part of our cultural over a period of time. But constituent elements of our culture which were part of the culture of our forefathers is our heritage. The rest is foreign and accommodated by one portion of native population and rejected by another portion. However, culture is changing over time through cultural diffusion or interaction with people who belong to another culture.
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