After spending time in two major
cities of India, Bangalore/Bengaluru (10.8 million people) and Kolkata/Calcutta
(14 million people), I’ve been struck by the comingling of modern life and
ancient practices. Mostly it’s amazing to see religious devotion everywhere in
India. All ages and all members of society can be seen visiting temples,
praying to roadside shrines, and generally giving reverence to spirituality. In
the last two days in Kolkata, we have visited both Hindu and Jain temples.
Entry to these temples is taken very seriously. Shoes must be off, voices
quiet, and respect to the priest must be shown. Often when you leave, you
receive a mark on your forehead to show you have worshipped that god. Just
tonight, when another teacher and I went to a roadside kiosk to buy some snacks,
the vender was burning incense and praying to a picture of a deity in his
stall. This kind of street side worship is something you see all the time in
India. Our host teachers explained that most Indians are spiritual in some way
and not just a certain segment of society.
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| At the school we're visiting, there is a place where students can pray to the goddess of knowledge. |
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| A picture of the god Ganesha on the back of a taxi. |
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| Our host teachers in front of a new Hindu temple in Kolkata |
While cell phones, some fast food
restaurants (fewer than I expected), some western dress, especially among men,
and modern cars can be seen everywhere, traditional dress and means of
transportation is just as evident. Most Indian women dress in a very formal and
beautiful way. Women either wear the traditional sari, which is a very long
cloth wrapped around what they call a petticoat, or a salwar kameez, which is a
long tunic with blousy pants and a scarf. The colors are very vibrant and often
the scarf matches the pants. While many men wear traditional western clothing,
you see men on the street and serving in restaurants in bare feet, wearing a
dhoti, which is a piece of cloth wrapped like a skirt. The streets of India are
also an amazing site to see. Along with the lack of traffic rules, which leads
to hair raising driving, traditional hand and bicycle pulled rickshaws drive
next to modern cars.
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| A bicycle rickshaw in Kolkata |
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| Our host teacher's daughter in western dress |
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| KFC in Kolkata. We also saw McDonald's, Dominos, and Au Bon Pain |
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| Teachers in Bangalore wearing saris |
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| The man in the background is wearing a dhoti |
Being in schools and around
teachers in India, I’m also observing young people’s old-fashioned reverence
for their parents and teachers. Since we’ve been touring with our two host
teachers from Kolkata, we’ve run into two former students of theirs. Both spoke
very formally to their teacher and one even kissed her hands and then the feet
of her former teacher. Can you imagine this happening in the U.S.? At the same
time, one of our host teachers brought her 20 something daughter with us when
we were touring the city. She was extremely polite and when asked about her
future plans, always referred to what her parents wanted, but at the same time
spent much of her time either texting or talking on her cell phone. One of the
students at the school we’re visiting wrote an open letter to her parents in
the local paper. I think her comments demonstrate this tension between
traditional and modern culture. She wrote, “Dear parents, you are my pillars of
strength. I am well aware that you guys are the only ones who will love me
unconditionally. But there are a few things I want you to understand. First, I
want you to stop giving me long lectures on studies, dad. With all due respect,
my ears literally buzz with your heavy gyaan, Baba. Also, I would really
appreciate it if you would just let me use social networking sites once in a
while to chat with my friends without grumbling and threatening to snatch my
phone and throw it away.” Sound familiar?
Question: Why has folk
culture remained strong in some places, while it’s barely existent in others?
ReplyDelete(Darrin)Folk culture has remained strong in some places because the interaction with the world. A place with little to no interaction wold retain there culture while one with a lot o interaction will pick up things from the people they meet.
Hello, Mrs. Stalnaker.. What an interesting question you pose...
ReplyDeleteIn America, we are messaged to internalize values associated with themes of life, liberty, and the "pursuit of happiness." This serves as the bedrock of our society. We thus operate from the perspective of a macro-level dynamic where we are responsible for shaping our own path--sometimes--irrespective of the needs or values of others.
Subsequently, the will of the greater society is valued over the unique needs of individuals. It is at this place where cultural bonds begin to weaken due to these competing value systems. This is predicated on the scope to which a minority group has been embedded into the collected fabric of the majority group.
I see a conspicuous absence of this in a place like India where spirituality remains a central theme in their way of life. Thus, collectivism is an embodiment of India's social fabric and serves to fortify the people here. This connectedness serves to bind individuals in a manner that “individualism” cannot. Whether it's India or another similar society, this united front serves to buffer the cooperative will of the people from competing influences and thus preserves the individual attributes of its people. Folklore, a micro-level distinction, remains because the collective spirit of the people has willed it so.
- Mr. Burton
Mr. Burton, Thanks for your wonderful response! It's worthy of a graduate school exchange! I'm having such an amazing experience here in India and I'm glad to see how much of their original culture they've maintained. Have a great end of the school year! Thanks for reading my blog. I appreciate it.
Delete
ReplyDeleteNo problem at all. How's the weather there?