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I
want to talk about three things here. Let me
introduce them in three short paragraphs each
after which we can discuss the way they
interact.
Changing Times - Times keep changing constantly.
s we say "Zamana badal gaya hai". Cultural
pressures, world events and changing
technologies all keep our lives in a state of
flux. The impact of changing times is all
encompassing. It affects the way we dress, the
way we behave, the language that we speak, our
social customs and even the way we think!
Cultural Inertia - Cultural inertia is man's
tendency to stick with what is familiar. This
makes him resist change. It is this part of the
human psyche that makes antiques valuable,
museums worthwhile, and older people wax
eloquent about their bygone times. The
expression, "Hamare zamane mein aisa nahin hota
tha..." is an often heard expression due to this
inertia.
Our times - In this ever changing world, the era
that we belong to is typically the period during
which we go through High school and college. We
see the values and institutions presented to us.
We rebel against them (oh those teenage years!)
and we contribute to the changing times. In this
process we get changed ourselves and like a clay
pot that is put in the hearth for baking, we
emerge into our twenties as a product of our
times. That period defines who we are, what we
like and what we would want the younger people
to like.
The interplay of these three phenomena is what
makes life what it is. There is a constant
friction between the "Changing times" (that is
largely driven by business) and "Cultural
Inertia". While people get swept in the river of
change, eating genetically modified food
products that is full of preservatives out of a
can, they look back at "their times" and mourn
the demise of the organic food that their
parents grew in the kitchen garden. Still, they
open a few cans every evening, some for the
family dinner and one for the dog or cat. The so
called "organic food" now belongs in the
shopping cart of the rich, as it is they only
who can afford it.
If we look at pictures of the early part of the
Raj we can very easily see that the original
dresses of the Indian men has largely become
history. Now we wear the dress of the people we
called "maleechas" and, with passage of time, we
see it as our own. The same goes for the
language. Each one of us too have, in the
indiscretion of youth, experimented by flexing
the establishment (remember the bell bottoms and
the platform shoes?). On a filmi level, love
marriages have been hawked since the film
industry came to be. Now that this concept is
becoming more mainstream, people lament to the
demise of the arranged marriage system (and its
stability), whenever they see a love marriage
crash on the rocks of divorce.
People of my generation grind our teeth with
disgust when we hear Rap music. It is enjoyed by
the younger westernized crowd. We look at them
and shake our heads. We seethe with anger when
some 'misguided' (in our opinion) youths mix the
God forsaken Rap music into old Geeta Dutt
classics. We change the station on the radio,
jumping from one station to other - only to find
more remix music everywhere. Finally, we turn
the radio off and vent our disgust to our
contemporaries. This is how we become dinosaurs
by the time we reach thirty.
Are we evolving? Are we getting better? Due to
convenience and profitability, we have altered
our social structure so that both spouses HAVE
to work to make a household work. This in turn
gives rise to an undisciplined generation of
kids who like instant gratification and tie
normal behavior to monetary rewards. We eat out
of cans. We don't get married. It is too much of
a hassle. We "live together" and keep our
finances separate. Which way are we going? You
tell me.
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