This article on TOI inspired me to post my thoughts here. I personally dislike Greg Chappel for the games he played against Saurav Ganguly, however more than his comments on the Indian culture, this time I was interested in the comments (read reactions) posted by the TOI readers.
No wonder- you won't be an Indian if you do not strongly react to such remarks made by a foreigner. We Indians won't mind comfortably jumping the road signals, fighting over petty issues, breeding corruption or spitting on the roads, without the slightest element of guilt that we are causing trouble to fellow Indians; such and lot more acts which have never been advocated in the 5000 year old culture. Old, may not always be Gold (per se), there is always scope for introspection and improvement. Rather than boasting of a glorious past, should we not ponder whether we actually follow what our culture has taught us?
Although some Indians in past and present have displayed great leadership and innovative abilities, still- think over this:
Every Indian should be proud of Indian culture- undoubtedly for how great it is, however being proud doesn't mean turning a blind eye on the flipper side. I believe Indian culture has instigated an over dependence on nature and God, which has further decelerated the progress of our society (maybe this is what God wants, maybe HE is punishing us for our deeds, etc.). Indian culture has (somehow unintentionally) promoted blind faith, racism, lethargy, arrogance and a few other negative traits observed among Indians.
Reluctance in accepting things with a broad mindset is something very Indian. Why can't Indians introspect, take criticism positively and make it constructive to build a great society that everyone can truly be proud of?
No wonder- you won't be an Indian if you do not strongly react to such remarks made by a foreigner. We Indians won't mind comfortably jumping the road signals, fighting over petty issues, breeding corruption or spitting on the roads, without the slightest element of guilt that we are causing trouble to fellow Indians; such and lot more acts which have never been advocated in the 5000 year old culture. Old, may not always be Gold (per se), there is always scope for introspection and improvement. Rather than boasting of a glorious past, should we not ponder whether we actually follow what our culture has taught us?
Although some Indians in past and present have displayed great leadership and innovative abilities, still- think over this:
- Agriculture has been a way of life of Indians for thousands of years, still even today Indian farmer has to make ends meet to produce and save his crop. Relatively newer crop-cultivating nations like Israel have overcome dependence and are way ahead in farm productivity, while poor farmers of India still heavily depend on the rains (where is the innovation?).
- India receives more sunlight throughout the year than most of the developed countries, still we are the least consumers of solar energy.
- They say necessity is the mother of invention, lot of inventions happened in the west which necessitated more in the sub-continental climate and populace (e.g. Refrigerator, air-conditioner), yet as usual we were the followers.
- Population control measures- again the westerners had to come up with a solution that benefits the Indians most
- A culture boasting of pre-historic town planning (in Mohenjo-Daro) has some of the filthiest and worst cities on earth
- Indian culture has always promoted peace and harmony, yet we find the westerners to be more polite, helpful and carry more civic sense than Indians.
Every Indian should be proud of Indian culture- undoubtedly for how great it is, however being proud doesn't mean turning a blind eye on the flipper side. I believe Indian culture has instigated an over dependence on nature and God, which has further decelerated the progress of our society (maybe this is what God wants, maybe HE is punishing us for our deeds, etc.). Indian culture has (somehow unintentionally) promoted blind faith, racism, lethargy, arrogance and a few other negative traits observed among Indians.
Reluctance in accepting things with a broad mindset is something very Indian. Why can't Indians introspect, take criticism positively and make it constructive to build a great society that everyone can truly be proud of?
