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A question to all Indians from a Russian Guy (me)


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Dear Indians,

I visited your country this winter with my family. I enjoyed New Delhi very much; in fact, I felt there like home. I felt something very common, but It's hard to explain.

Maybe what I enjoyed the most, especially in other smaller cities, is the conservation of traditional values. And I'm know what I'm talking about because in our country we struggle to keep our values safe because they get erazed from the face of the Earth by the power of globalization. It's an phenomenon that kill sa nation's history and spirit.

I read and I hear much critics about traditionalism in India: much "specialists" think that it draws the country back.

But in my opinion, the Indian spirit is still powerful to show that tradition is a strong and a wise way to build a great country. The most common point between India and Russia now, is the struggle for the national spirit. This video shows how our government tries to rebuild all the lost traditions with powerful  Putin's speeches (it's translated, and you might be interested):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp6AmfjdVHI&t=4s 

 

Here is my question: What are the main drawbacks of tradionalism in India and am I wrong thinking that Indian values should be defended? 

 

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Welcome to ICF.Russians have been Indias friend since 1950s.We appreciate that.

 

Regarding your question,Indian traditions which we refer to Indian culture is almost 5000 years old.Many such traditions have been corrupted over such a long time and such traditions cannot be defended or allowed to exist.Some of them have been eradicated(Eg.Sati System,Widow issues) and some though outlawed continue to exist beneath the surface(Caste system is an example other is child marriage)

@russia

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On 2/10/2017 at 2:38 PM, Russia said:

Dear Indians,

I visited your country this winter with my family. I enjoyed New Delhi very much; in fact, I felt there like home. I felt something very common, but It's hard to explain.

Maybe what I enjoyed the most, especially in other smaller cities, is the conservation of traditional values. And I'm know what I'm talking about because in our country we struggle to keep our values safe because they get erazed from the face of the Earth by the power of globalization. It's an phenomenon that kill sa nation's history and spirit.

I read and I hear much critics about traditionalism in India: much "specialists" think that it draws the country back.

But in my opinion, the Indian spirit is still powerful to show that tradition is a strong and a wise way to build a great country. The most common point between India and Russia now, is the struggle for the national spirit. This video shows how our government tries to rebuild all the lost traditions with powerful  Putin's speeches (it's translated, and you might be interested):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp6AmfjdVHI&t=4s 

 

Here is my question: What are the main drawbacks of tradionalism in India and am I wrong thinking that Indian values should be defended? 

 

Welcome to the forum. 

 

Traditions are what link us to our ancestors and our ancient civilization. In India, we retain our culture through festivals, knowledge system, marriage customs and traditional arts. They are kept alive more so in the rural areas than in the urban areas. A lot of foreign funded NGOs are actively trying to dilute our customs and festivals. What bothers me is that they are using Indian foot soldiers to do so.

 

I completely agree with your point on globalization erasing customs and traditions away. I'm honestly not against globalization per say but neo-colonial globalization is more about exercising soft imperial power.

 

Most of the urban youth in metropolitan cities have fallen prey to it. Our traditional education system have been hijacked since the 1830s. Movies, TV shows and even video games play a part. The role of multinationals is well known but the role of education and mass media is often ignored. 

 

Now to answer your questions, the main drawback of traditionalism is that sometimes it make us too insular to global developments. Being insular doesn't help as then we become unaware of our adversaries' strategies against us, leaving us more vulnerable. 

 

Indian values will be fine as long as we fix our educational system, most importantly our historical narrative. Most of our education is theoretically driven and not culturally driven, so we are more job-hungry than knowledge-hungry. I'm more worried about corruption of our values than I am of them being uprooted. 

 

Saying all this, I'm quietly optimistic about India as I see another renaissance happening in terms of cultural awareness. With the onset of the information age, things will only get better I feel. Monopoly of knowledge has ended.

 

Hopefully the positive values will remain and the negative values and traditions (egs. honor killings, dowry) will be rectified or eradicated. What's needed is to strike a balance between modernity and traditionalism.

Edited by jalebi_bhai
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On 2/10/2017 at 5:38 PM, Russia said:

 

Here is my question: What are the main drawbacks of tradionalism in India and am I wrong thinking that Indian values should be defended? 

 

Traditions and culture are not static, they are living, breathing things.  If they are static, they are already dead/dying.  And the ones that are not dead, need to evolve.  Traditions have value, but if they require much of an effort to "defend" them, then maybe there's not much value there.  

 

India is a good example of this.  Centuries of invasions and conquest by alien kings and corporations, but the traditions have been preserved by the people because they valued them.  

 

 

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The only drawback of traditionalism anywhere in the world would be that it could resist change. While traditions are compulsory for spiritual health of a civilization, change is the law of nature. Sticking to anything too long without accepting change has detrimental effects.

 

Edited by MechEng
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If tradition is resisting reform (which generally happens by large backing, like the caste system, mysogyny, etc ) then it is bad. If the reform is being forced by a select few  on a silent majorty, that is where we see a problem. Shunning festivals because of a liberal view (Deepavali, Holi etc.) is an example There are some basic human rights to consider for reform. Every religion needs reform based on times. 

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On 2/10/2017 at 2:38 PM, Russia said:

Dear Indians,

I visited your country this winter with my family. I enjoyed New Delhi very much; in fact, I felt there like home. I felt something very common, but It's hard to explain.

Maybe what I enjoyed the most, especially in other smaller cities, is the conservation of traditional values. And I'm know what I'm talking about because in our country we struggle to keep our values safe because they get erazed from the face of the Earth by the power of globalization. It's an phenomenon that kill sa nation's history and spirit.

I read and I hear much critics about traditionalism in India: much "specialists" think that it draws the country back.

But in my opinion, the Indian spirit is still powerful to show that tradition is a strong and a wise way to build a great country. The most common point between India and Russia now, is the struggle for the national spirit. This video shows how our government tries to rebuild all the lost traditions with powerful  Putin's speeches (it's translated, and you might be interested):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp6AmfjdVHI&t=4s 

 

Here is my question: What are the main drawbacks of tradionalism in India and am I wrong thinking that Indian values should be defended? 

 

Nothing kills history, except loss of knowledge. I think a lot of people in the world are having a spiritual crisis, because globalization and spread of technologies like the internet (which is the first time in history of mankind that two random, average people sitting 10,000 kms away can communicate with each other) is making the idea of nation state obsolete. 
The uniqueness you speak of, has been largely the product of closed borders over the centuries, which keeps populations separate. One couldn't just randomly show up to Russia or England a hundred years ago from Africa or Asia just for tourism. With meeting & mixing of people, these boundaries become weaker and weaker. 

But this is not a cause for concern, since our history shows, even nation-states are a relatively new concept, existing for less than 500 years. Prior to that, we had the politics of race & ethnicity. And prior to that, of city-states. 

 

As for your question- what is wrong with traditionalism - what is fundamentally wrong with traditionalism, is that it is an insular view, which seeks to 'keep things as they were in the days of our ancestors', when in reality, those days are gone and this is a different day, different time. 
 

The other thing wrong with traditionalism, is that ever since industrial revolution, we've left our ancestors in the dust, in terms of what we know. For our species, ancestor worship is a strong tendency. Some cultures have religion based on ancestor worship, but in every culture, ancestors are honoured. Ask yourself why. The answer is obvious : ancestors represented success. And nothing argues with success. But our ancestors 200 years ago, had more in common with their ancestors from 1000 years ago, than we have with our 200 year old ancestors. Because of technology. So now, traditionalism is dying, because a lot of us are forced to ask the question 'what does my illiterate, farmer ancestor from 200 years ago, have to teach us ?' Heck, for many of us who have had grandparents who haven't been to school, we can SEE the fact that our 10 year old kids already know more and possess greater analytic skills than our 70 year old grandparents ever did. 

 Just as a hundred years ago, our ancestors thought the 'ultra-ancient' way of life of the hunter-gatherer 'is uncivilized and unacceptable' to us, so too are the ways of our ancestors to us. Just think about it. Take any nation, any family. Go back six or seven generations. Unless you have a scientist in your family, the conclusion is the same for every single family : your ten year old kid knows 10 times more than your 60 year old great-great-great-great grandfather knew. Their viewpoints, their ideology, their knowledge, to us is almost as inferior than us, as the naked caveman was to them. 


And for your last question- should indian values be defended ? 
The answer depends on 'what values'. Culture enriches a society. But ethics are the backbone of a society and ethics need to be modern, concurrent to the society to serve the society. Otherwise, just as an old, calcified backbone is useless to your back, so too are old, inapplicable and useless ethics to a society. What needs to be preserved, is the culture of society- the way one dresses, cooks, eats, host festivals on particular days- all those are enriching to the society. Anything beyond that, is a simple calculus of profit and loss for the said society.

 

Edited by Muloghonto
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On 2/10/2017 at 5:38 PM, Russia said:

Dear Indians,

I visited your country this winter with my family. I enjoyed New Delhi very much; in fact, I felt there like home. I felt something very common, but It's hard to explain.

Maybe what I enjoyed the most, especially in other smaller cities, is the conservation of traditional values. And I'm know what I'm talking about because in our country we struggle to keep our values safe because they get erazed from the face of the Earth by the power of globalization. It's an phenomenon that kill sa nation's history and spirit.

I read and I hear much critics about traditionalism in India: much "specialists" think that it draws the country back.

But in my opinion, the Indian spirit is still powerful to show that tradition is a strong and a wise way to build a great country. The most common point between India and Russia now, is the struggle for the national spirit. This video shows how our government tries to rebuild all the lost traditions with powerful  Putin's speeches (it's translated, and you might be interested):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp6AmfjdVHI&t=4s 

 

Here is my question: What are the main drawbacks of tradionalism in India and am I wrong thinking that Indian values should be defended? 

 

Welcome Russia is a time tested ally of India. Indian people have great respect for Russia, it would be nice to have a Russian in ICF. Your tags are interesting though why do I see pakistan there. :)

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Also another thing I wished to touch upon, Russian:

You said you felt a 'closeness, very common but hard to explain' - remember one thing to be true: in this day and age, understand that it is commonly acknowledged that All Indo-Europeans share cultural & linguistic affinities with one another.

In that context, when you visit India, you are actually visiting the living past & standard-bearers of the Indo-Europeans. One thing that cannot be denied, is that for the entire spectrum of Indo-European culture, India represents oldest & yet unbroken Indo-European culture. This is because, there are no other major Indo-Europeans left, who's culture, ethos, etc. are a 'natural continuation' of this Indo-European culture, its pantheons, Gods, morals, civics, etc, except us. You all are, to some cultural and ethical degree, 'middle-eastern' (or to us, 'western')- being deeply influenced in your ethics, morality, law by the faiths of Abraham.

 

Only India (and Nepal actually too) remain, where the Indo-Europeans - everything Europe borrowed & twisted from us (such as 'Arya'. You guys turned our 'noble/educated' tag into pure evil. Bravo!) - have continued a thus far unbroken journey into the Indo-European 'WAY' of life. 

This cultural familiarity you say, has echoes of our common ancestors in the past. And if you stay a while, you will start to find, to some respects you are re-discovering the type of legends,stories, epics, way of life  your ancestors once led. 
 

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