INDIA’S SHARED CULTURE, CIVILIZATION & CUSTOMS

 FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:

 

  

INDIA’S SHARED CULTURE, CIVILIZATION & CUSTOMS -

 COMMONALITIES CONVERGE!

 

India, home to the world's second-largest population, is a sub-continental nation with its uniqueness being ‘unity and diversity’. Many aspects bind the nation together. For centuries, India had a conglomeration of many kingdoms with its people speaking different vernacular dialects. It’s difficult to fix what all factored in, for bringing about a combination of things and reasons that achieved convergence notwithstanding mild aberrations and negligible divergences. India can be likened to a garland that is a collection of pretty-looking flowers of different shapes, designs, colours, and fragrances elegantly weaved, and a confluence of rivers (of different regions, religions, creeds, etc.) in an ocean.

 

India’s distinctiveness lies more in the convergence of its diverse cultures representing and encompassing all the echelons of society. However, in the multi-lingual and pluralistic country that India is, there may be some elements that are hell-bent upon indoctrinating fissiparous and parochial tendencies amongst the gullible masses. It is easy to preach and divide a society into many denominations. But a total and dedicated conviction towards unity and integrity is a sine qua non to bind what is sometimes deliberately branded as a ‘fractured society’ (which it’s not actually so), and the term itself is a misnomer! India is a paradise of amity, altruism, brotherhood, and peaceful co-existence where divergence mixes with, sinks in, submerges, and immerses in the pool of convergence. It has been so from times immemorial. A common practice across the country is to name baby girls after our rivers, say, Ganga, Yamuna/Jamuna, Kauvery, Krishna, Godavari, Narmada, and the like.

 

Even people professing faiths other than Hinduism do follow many Indian common customs and values. Children, irrespective of and transcending natural and man-made barriers, invariably play India’s all-traditional games.

 

In the violence-laden and strife-torn world, India stands out as a big peace-loving country having no extra-territorial ambitions. Remember, in the wars against Pakistan, even though India captured many places there, they were duly restored to that country under peace pacts signed. The composite culture of India which is a powerful refutation of dangerous divisive, discordant, and disruptive theories has an insulating effect against the ‘supposed’ clash of civilizations, ideological conflicts, and ominous tendencies. 

While the influence of Sanskrit is there in all Indian languages, that of Tamil can also be observed, mostly in the other South Indian languages.

 

India’s common aspects of culture and civilization are:

 

o   Naming babies in a ceremony

o   Tonsure or head shave including ear-ring and first solid food feeding ceremonies, especially for children up to age 3 

o   Offering worship to the family deity

o   Puberty function for girls

o   Rites and rituals - for both good/auspicious, and bad/sad events

o   Common beliefs - good omens and bad omens - good harbinger and evil eye, to mention just two 

o   Common proverbs - either the same, similar, or analogous

o   Choosing an auspicious day/time for beginning new initiatives

o   Horoscope matching (of bride and bridegroom) for wedding

o   Prognosis according to horoscope

o   Atonement/reparation (பரிகாரம்) as a remedy for an adverse situation

o   Offering/taking sweets marking a good fortune/success/victory, and for initiated things to augur and go well.

o   Devotional singing and dancing

o   Religious/spiritual discourses

o   Observance of days of religious/spiritual significance like, say, Amavasya and Poornima-Pournami (New Moon and Full Moon)

o   Celebrations of many common festivals and partaking in temple festivities including sacred dip in holy rivers and other water bodies on befitting occasions

o   Observance of terms and conditions during solar and lunar eclipses

o   Respect/Obeisance to parents/elders

o   Chorus singing with divine devotion to God and piety

  

These are only the tip of the iceberg and one can find sync, similitude, selfsameness, solidarity, shared mission and vision (like Rangoli and Mehandi) ……, and settings of sorts, among similar others.

 

While the degree may vary, the core concept remains the same; in some cases, although the outer look may differ, the inner spirit is retained intact by all Indians, as part of the composite culture.

 

MN Srinivas, an Indian Sociologist and Social anthropologist - who wrote essays on Indian Social Anthropology - identified two distinct hierarchies of caste - a ritual and a secular hierarchy. The position of a caste in the ritual hierarchy is defined by commensal (symbiotic/synergetic) relations, access to rituals, values, deities one prayed to, and speech. Secular criteria are defined by wealth, power, access to education and jobs, etc.

Let us all remain unscathed from the adverse influence of divisive forces, consolidate the gains achieved so far, and bring about a world order sans evils of sorts. India as a cultural citadel can carve a niche for itself in the comity of nations to be emulated by other nations.

To conclude, our former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru once said, “Who dies if India lives, who lives if India dies?” meaning that people’s survival is completely dependent on India’s survival; hence national unity and integrity should be maintained at all costs and by all means. 

 

(R.SAMPATH)

16/1/2024