How Western am I or how Indian am I

 In the global context of the world becoming open and boundaries breaking there are lots of cross-cultural processes which are attractive or and some not so attractive to me.

I have been born in India which has a heritage of lots of rich culture, rich symbols, and rich artifacts. I am very proud to be an Indian with all the baggage that comes with this identity.

However, I also have studied in a missionary school, went to a missionary college, and abide by a lot of western cultural ethos from those institutes. The pull is not only from the school and the college but from my own identity of wanting to wear the jeans, the skirt, and against the sarees.

So, what is this pull of who really am I as a constant being? I value the world which is an organized, systematic world that the western country offers. But, I also value the struggle and mess of my chaotic world. 

I am part of that generation that gets pulled in either or locations. I feel sad when my children or grandchildren refuse to read or speak in their mother tongue. They may have not gone to missionary school but they are very conditioned by the pride of speaking good English, having a western cultural philosophy, and becoming more and more distant from the Indian identity.  

If I reflect on why this is happening I have contributed to this drama where although they are Indian they relate more to the western cultural process and symbols. This generation has more freedom to make their own choices and values than what we had.

However, clarity in this thought process is missing whereas I think there is more confusion between the two pulls.

I am not passing a value judgment on which is good or bad but I do strongly believe that each human being should relate to and respond from the culture and heritage that he is born in.

A symbol like why Gurupurnima is important or Rakhi is important or what festivals symbolize for us is a huge cultural asset that we possess. But many times in my mind also it has been experienced as baggage and this feeling has been passed on to them knowingly or unknowingly. 

Hence, the younger generation parks itself in the ethos of the western world whereas the older generation is still stuck in the ethos of Indian Philosophy. It would be good if both these generations can come together and have a dialogue on what movement they wish to make.

Where am I in all of this?

Author:-Dr. Nayana Shah (Ph.D)

           Director, Manthan

             Ahmedabad

Comments

  1. SudeshnaAugust 18, 2021 at 5:51 AM

    Yes- a seed of conflict within is always there.... a fine line of difference is there.

    There is an urge to westernize, but the corresponding modernization is often missing. So, while we copy the West in shoes, bags, accent, clothes, food... we may or may not embrace the modern thoughts. By Westernization I mean imitating the west, to improve ones' social standing and by modernization I refer specifically to a departure from regressive / archaic bases and nurture a progressive approach -- where liberalism, integrity, fraternity, empowerment, participation, collaboration are the ruling tenets.

    Our culture has way many examples of people following traditional ways of living and being at the source of modern thinking.

    Wonderful blogs, Nayanaben- I enjoy reading through.

    ReplyDelete

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