A nation that has no cultural heritage is like an orphan who has nothing
to feed upon. An individual human being, a race or a nation must
necessarily have certain roots somewhere. India is deep rooted in the
culture of her past—the glorious past. It is difficult to sum up her heritage in a few words as she has given birth to many great movements in religion ,art and literature.The India of today has a rich past over which we can look back with
pride. Our past has given us a definite way of life, which is typically
Indian and yet universal in approach.
The Indian culture has persisted through the ages precisely for the reasons of antiquity, unity, continuity and the universality of its nature.Its most prominent feature is that it combines many cultures. The South, North, and Northeast have their own distinct cultures and almost every state has carved out its own cultural niche.It has always been a land of great variety and has shown great capacity for absorbing what came to her from outside.
Throughout her past, India has preached and practiced toleration and understanding .These factors permeates the whole fabric of Indian life.Its charms and graciousness endures due to the philosophy of life which we have inherited from the past. Whatever we do, however great or small, is colored with religious sentiments. From the planting of a tree to the establishing of an industry, all are regarded as pious acts. Training and education, marriage and procreation, birth and death are all tinged with religious fervor.
The Indian culture has persisted through the ages precisely for the reasons of antiquity, unity, continuity and the universality of its nature.Its most prominent feature is that it combines many cultures. The South, North, and Northeast have their own distinct cultures and almost every state has carved out its own cultural niche.It has always been a land of great variety and has shown great capacity for absorbing what came to her from outside.
Throughout her past, India has preached and practiced toleration and understanding .These factors permeates the whole fabric of Indian life.Its charms and graciousness endures due to the philosophy of life which we have inherited from the past. Whatever we do, however great or small, is colored with religious sentiments. From the planting of a tree to the establishing of an industry, all are regarded as pious acts. Training and education, marriage and procreation, birth and death are all tinged with religious fervor.
It is true that somewhere we are loosing our roots and our attitude towards life is now rapidly
becoming materialistic. The glamour of the western way of life with its
glorification of material prosperity and its wonderful achievements in
the field of science and technology, has modified our aim and ambitions.
A new orientation has been given to Indian life. The ideal now chiefly
adored is success or the ability which produces success.
However, it would also be not a very wise decision to completely resist the winds of change
and remain adhered to the past values and principles of life. We must
not close our doors to the influences from the outside world. If those
influences are good, they will strengthen the basic concepts of our
culture and so enrich it as to make it truly representative of the life
of our people. What is to be avoided is a blind imitation of cultures
and values.
Even though our cultural heritage is very substantial, but it
alone cannot enable us to improve the quality of life and living
standards of nearly one billion people of India. We have to energise our
attitudes by incorporating the democratic spirit of Americans, the cultural love of the French and the enterprising spirit of the Japanese to regain our past glory and to extricate our teeming millions
from the clutches of poverty, backwardness and inertia.
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