In my words:
The culture has been the
foundation stone
Of all the civilizations to us
known
Let us all take the legacy
forward
Among all the existing
virtues, may culture take the throne
“Unity in diversity, that is
India’s speciality” Very true! India is a nation of multiple languages,
religions, dance, music, food and customs. Indian culture, frequently termed as
a combination of multiple cultures, has been influenced by a history that is
several millennia old, beginning with the Indus Valley Civilization and other
early cultural areas. Several factors of Indian culture, like Philosophy, Languages,
Mathematics, Dance and Music, architecture have had a profound impact across
the world.
Religion has always been an impactful
influencer for the development of culture. Throughout the history of India, our
culture has been heavily influenced by Dharmic religions and we have always
been God fearing. That is what was fundamentally understood by the kings in
ancient times and with that, they won the hearts of people by constructing a
greater number of temples. The architectural wonders not only became part of
historical influence but also led the people to be more religious and made the system
run smooth. India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism,
and other religions that are still prevalent in the current time. It indeed
comes with a fact that when multiple cultures are finding presence, it would
lead to clashes and difference of opinion as well. The fanatics have at times
became so strong that they led the war like movements because of the
differences in the inclination towards different aspects of life w.r.t
religion. Yet, proudly, we have surpassed all the turmoil and have stood as one
nation. The amalgamation of all the religion into our culture has indeed multiplied
its beauty. Today, Hinduism and Buddhism are the world's third and
fourth-largest religions respectively, with over 2 billion followers altogether.
The Indo-Aryan languages and
rice cultivation, was introduced by East/ Southeast Asian rice-agriculturalists
using a route from Southeast Asia through Northeast India into the Indian
subcontinent. They have been credited with shaping much of Indian philosophy,
literature, architecture, art and music. The spread of Hinduism, Buddhism,
architecture, administration and writing system from India to other parts of
Asia was through the Silk Road by the travelers and maritime traders during the
early centuries of the Common Era. (Common Era is an alternative to the Anno
Domini (AD).
The philosophical approach of
Indians has been able to shape the structure of the Society that has changed
the way the people thought. There was a paradigm shift in the mind-set of the
society by these reformers and lot many evil practices and the demerits of the
societies were taken care of. The reformers’ philosophy has always been the
important factor in the cultural development. The main schools of Indian
philosophy were formalized chiefly between 1000 BCE to the early centuries of
the Common Era.
The fun and fervor which
Indians have been enjoying since time immemorial has been a part that cannot be
extracted from the memories. The nostalgia becomes stronger when the older
generation revisits their past. With every coming generation, the technology
advances but the legacy to carry on the festivals, its rituals, its norms are
followed and taken ahead. In the earlier times with the less population, we had
multiple celebrations with people gathering and many of the festivals developed
in order to have people coming together and celebrating, barring the cast creed
and the economic level. India has always been multicultural and multi ethnic
and has been celebrating the festivals of various religions. The Independence
Day, the Republic Day and the Gandhi Jayanti been three national holidays in
addition to many other state-wise and region wise local festival have been
popular not only with the natives but also among the other nations of the world.
Festival is a very important part of our integration.
Clothing, cuisine, literature,
language, architecture and festivals have been part of the cultural development.
Music and dance, as well as all the performing arts have been playing an
influential role in the development of culture and all these factors become
part of bringing several nations together bringing in the harmony among the
population of the world.
According to Sadguru –
“Today, India is on the threshold of an economic upsurge. Various things that
we did not even dream were possible for a larger segment of the population
could be possible in the next few years – if we handle things right. Large
segments of the population could benefit hugely. We are right on the threshold,
and if we handle the situation smartly, we can be a tremendous power because we
are a population of 1.3 billion. A population of 1.3 billion with the necessary
intellect, is as good as anything can be. If we handle ourselves right, we can
be a tremendous power.” That should be the vision and mission for going ahead.
The future should be seeing the large population as a Human resource and not as
population explosion with the scarcity of resources. Knowledge brings patience
and motivation to achieve. The overall impact of inducing penchant for learning
would lead to a better and developed nation. This can be done by taking
cultural aspects into consideration. As a united world, we need to see to it
that we become so powerful that our population is making impact on the decision
making and not making us slaves by remaining non-united.
The future must come in the
form of technically developed India along with the flourishing, happy and
healthy society. We look forward to the humans controlling the machines and not
the vice versa. The various forms of clothing being part of different states
should be giving way to more employment and may we see more looms coming up, to
settle the small-scale industries for the benefit of this voluptuous
population. Along with the improvement in the financial status, there would be
revival of the traditional clothing and cloth materials. Engagement of families
that knows how to create, would be a boon to the growth. Architectural
monuments may become a part of national and international tourism bringing with
it the primary concern of maintenance to preserve them well. Accountability
leads to profitability and we can ensure with it the very essence of the
survival of monuments, sculptures, employment, state wise revenue inflow along
with the cherry on cake, the culture.
The harmony and Bon hominess
is integral to any society and for that purpose, I see there would be a drastic
shift from the nuclear to the bigger families; from celebrating in solitude to
celebration of community; from ‘me’ to ‘us’ and that would be the flavor of the
festivals. Future would be richly enhanced with ‘We shall overcome with walking
hand in hand’ mindset. My futuristic vision of India is indeed a very positive
one with the learnings from the past. The wars and conflicts have already
devoid people of the resources and have given them the lesson for the future.
We being resilient in nature, has helped tremendously in bringing us back to
normal. The cultural rainbow of India would surely be more colorful with its
set of colors to make nation shine and we would be seeing the nation that
becomes exemplary. The cultural diversification would become profound factor
for the financial, physical, emotional and psychological development. Good
Health is a state of the mind which is being socially, physically and mentally
happy and that would be with the entire nation as I envision India to be moving
progressively. The nation would flourish under the wings of liberal attitude and
broader views on religion, language and literature. The literature has proven
to be a very good resource of bringing changes to the society. The better
infrastructure, the availability of multiple streams would be bringing to us
many more noble laureates of literature. The society gets impacted with
word-crafters way of influential articles and speeches. I see the year ahead
with many more commanding orators, confidents speakers and prominent leaders.
My idea of my nation with respect to cultural enhancement is to see my nation
getting applause from the other nations for being right and just; for being the
nation that utilizes its population as human resource in a constructive manner
and the cuisine, sports, languages, sculptures and philosophy etc. bring a
wider horizon to it.
The cultural boundaries need
to be lifted up so that we can gracefully embrace the good learnings of all the
faiths. India shall be the power to show how the species of human can exist
with the all-round development of all the five senses and brain being aesthetically
inclined, technologically upgraded and humane, the new era of future generation
will learn and progress with it. The utilization of resources would be more
prolific as exchange of thoughts and knowledge sharing would be a part of new
mindset and we all shall see the rise of the sun in the form of nations working
together.
Developed nations have higher
happiness quotient and that comes with the appropriate revenues and resources.
Let us all pledge to see India as a nation called ‘Soney ki chidiya’ once
again. Let us all make sure that we bring the reformation for the upliftment of
society, for all the states and the regions. We are Indians and we shall follow
the culture of humanity. Let the light be kindled and may the shine spread all
over. Let us all take the nation towards a greater goal of We All Shall Grow.
I dream of India that is ours
None of the mind is behind
bars
We feel liberated with the
onset of Light
The light of wisdom that is
culturally bright
I envision 100th year to be an
exemplary year
Where the head is held high and
without fear
The culture will integrate
growth with the population
That is when we will see the
rising nation
Traditions shall be seeing the
revival
The nation will see the
growth’s arrival
Harmony and peace would be
acknowledged with zeal
Humanity will prevail with its
utmost feel
May we all pledge to see
language and literature further
May we celebrate the festivals
of freedom with fervour
India in future shall be an enlightened
nation
That would be a promise of
resource conservation
For the nation to survive for
millions of years
Without the agonies, pain and
tears.
The India that we want to see
on the platform of the world with a vision of “United we stand, divided we
fall” encompassing all the cultures with their variations. The ‘kose kose par
badle paani, chaar kose par vaani’ idiom has been existing since the time
immemorial, yet keeping the population integrated as one Bhartiya and that is
the jewel in the crown. Culture plays a very important part in everyone's life
and we need to see to it that with every passing day we are instilling the
values in the current generation. We need to see to it that we propagate with
the thought of keeping Culture intact along with the development in the arenas
of Science, Technology, Politics and Sports.
Thank you
-Radhika Bhandari©
