Is modernness in the Indian Culture a Step to ‘Modernization’ or ‘Westernization’?

As we all know ‘Culture’ is a heritage which is a merge of knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, traditional custom, social norms, ethical values and habits of a particular society. And each culture has one’s own beliefs and traditions. Thus that makes each nation or society unique for their particular culture and gives a distinctive identity among the others in the world.

The Indian culture, which is one of the oldest and the richest culture in the world, is somehow at the point of vanishing. The peculiar feature of its culture is one of the reasons for which India is well renowned among the other countries, then why today it possesses a threat from its own people? Why Indians neglecting their own culture and trying to become like the western? Why the Indian culture which represented as an identity for its nation is now becoming an imitation of the western culture? Why these people unable to understand that their negligence may cause their country to lose something very valuable: ‘its identity’.

India is a nation, a hub of different culture of different regions and races and each has their own unique identity which makes India a rich cultural heritage. The Indian culture had an influence of Islamic, Portuguese, Dutch and British culture, which enriched the Indian ethos considerably. Prior also we had adopted many good things from other cultures which were around us but we always preserved our identity along with that. Today, from one hand we are welcoming the arrival of changes in our culture, while, from other hand losing our own inherited culture. The culture however, is slowly changing and becoming an imitation of the western.

The impact of western culture on Indian culture can be witnessed in the fields of life style, dressing style, food, moral values, habits, relationships and especially on Indian cinemas. Somehow people are getting carried away by the charm of western culture and without even bothering about its concussion on Indian culture, they are simply replicating themselves. If the influence of western culture continues to affect the Indian society, soon a time will come when India will lose its uniqueness and particularity and will turn its identification into ‘a carbon copy of the western.’

When the reasons for the rapid alteration in the Indian culture was scrutinized among the Indians: some of them simply termed it as a step to ‘Modernization’, while the other half believes that the changes in the Indian culture is because of the impact of the western culture and some says that the alien culture is highly influencing the Indian culture and unknowingly people are becoming fonder of western culture and blindly following it.

According to my study report: The root cause of the diversity lies in the lack of knowledge about the term ‘Modernization’ and ‘Westernization’, there is a big difference these two terms: people wearing jeans, t-shirt, short skirts, having food like burger, pizza etc. makes them feels that they are modern; this is pure ‘Westernization’, copying what people are doing in the western countries. While ‘Modernization’ takes place in the mind rather than in clothes, food etc. Modernization is to change our mentality, attitude towards certain things; it’s a change from narrow to broad minded people.

‘Culture’ is not a law, ‘revolution’ is a law of nature and there is no harm or disservice in taking something positive from others like their broad mentality, frankness, cultural diversity, etc. Western culture has various practices which can help to make India a better society. But every culture has its own moral failings, when one considers India: the caste system, gender discrimination, religious superstitions, women harassment etc. while the Western also have their own moral flaws like the western rarely care for the old one’s there.

Even in the book: ‘Basis of Swami Vivekananda’s Nationalism’ by P.R

Bhuyan, stated that India should learn from the West what is good in it and absorb it within the folds of her culture. Blind imitation of the West and forgetfulness of what is our own will bring ruin to the nation. As Jawaharlal Nehru has observed, “If our race forgets the Buddha, the Upanishad’s and the great epics, what then will it be like! It would be uprooted and would lose the basic characteristics which have clung to it and given it distinction throughout these long ages. India would cease to be India.”

As far as my opinion is concerned I will propose that merely, copying western culture won’t be fruitful. We should find out the pitfalls of our culture and try to remove them. Understanding their culture and then adopting them is the correct idea, rather than to blindly ensue them. World is made of different culture, we should share, learn and accept the pleasing things around us without losing our own culture and identity.