What part can I play to protect Indian culture?
If we had tried to protect the status quo, we wouldn't have had things like the Hindi/Urdu language, the harmonium or the sitar, Tamil wouldn't have borrowed from Sanskrit and vice versa, there would have been no mixing of tradition and rituals picked up from other cultures and absorbed into our own.
Culture doesn't need protection! Culture needs practice.
Practice the bits of tradition from your (or another!) culture that appeal to you! So many non-Punjabis now wear the red-and-white chooda (set of bangles) after marriage, and continue to wear them up to a year after marriage. So many Gujaratis have started doing the karwa chauth fast for the husbands (and wives!), which is not part of their tradition. So many South Indian and Muslim friends have organized a Sangeet ceremony during their weddings, because they love the idea of a bit of song-and-dance.
Indians take on things they like from western cultures too, like the practice of saying vows to their betrothed at a wedding function. Surely, this was something worth emulating. In that sense, culture is about giving humans joy and happiness, binding them with art, music language, emotion and nostalgia - a celebration of the human condition.
Taking on new practices and continuing old ones that appeal to us will be the contribution we make to our collective legacy and pass it on to future generations.
Most of all, stop thinking of culture as your own and stop thinking of it as an endangered or threatened species.
Indian kulchar will outlive and survive all the individual Indians hellbent upon "protecting it", thinking it's some damsel in distress, when it's actually alive-and-kicking, morphing as we speak, into something bigger than the sum of its parts.
Culture are basics of living style. It depicts your lifestyle. Culture is a trend that has been followed since ages which was set in accordance to requirement of a particular time and siuation.
Like hindus give water to surya devta (rising sun) every morning. This has scientific logic too. Morning sun is esential for humans. Now we follow it without knowing the reason, but somewhere it is beneficial for us.
Jut following the parampara / culture is not enough. We need to understand why a certain way and activity has been introduced in our lifestyle. This is because unless we know it for sure what we are doing and why we are doing, we may not follow it religiously, and the coming generation will for certain abandon the culture totally. To keep the culture alive, we need to understand it, follow it with reasoning and at the same time need to evolve and discard those activity which are irrelevant to perform in current time.
Misconception: One major misconception in India is that there is a set of well-defined written rules, which constitute the Indian culture, and not following those rules, or living differently and not following those rules will be a violation of the Indian Culture. There is no ONE SET OF WELL DEFINED RULES which constitute the Indian Culture.
India is a land of more than a billion, and there are thousands of peoples who practice different cultures, and even these cultural divisions do not have a set of rules.
Culture is not a written set of well-defined rules. No one can certify that doing a particular thing will be in accordance Indian Culture, or not doing that particular thing will be a violation of Indian culture. Also, even if we consider the hypothetical situation where there is a written set of well defined rules, there is no compulsion on any individual to follow them.
Mistake: The most common mistake everybody makes is, they mistake their own personal beliefs about how to lead life as Indian culture. Indian Culture is NOT your personal beliefs on how to lead life. Your personal beliefs are your personal beliefs, and your beliefs don't constitute the Indian Culture.
As long as an individual is not harming others and abiding the laws of the land, he/she has full rights to lead his/her life the way he/she wants to, and not care about what others think about the way he leads life. It might be a bitter truth for many to swallow, but you have to understand, no one has any obligation to please anybody by following culture, which in itself is not even well defined.
Indian Culture is just a generalized take on some common customs that were/are followed by many Indian families, which keeps changing and evolving over time. Concentrate on the word generalized and evolving in the previous sentence.
Live-in relationships were not a part of our culture. Yes.
But, if two people live together, does it affect others? No!
Divorce was not a part of Indian Culture. Yes.
But, if couples get divorced, does it affect others apart from them? Probably their parents and kids, but they'll deal with it.
But for others, any problem? No!
Premarital sex was not a part of Indian Culture? Yes!
But, if two adults, who have crossed the age of consent, indulge in consensual sex, fully knowing that this is not going to be any commitment, being aware of the consequences, and taking necessary precautions, what is our problem?
Again, who are we to talk philosophy that loyalty is important, and not sex? Do we feel so? Then it is our belief! Someone's belief may not be so!
Going to pubs and parties were not a part of our culture. Yes.
But, grown ups feel like having fun in their lives, and go to pubs and parties, and have fun. Does it harm us? No!
Girls wearing jeans and other modern dresses were not a part of Indian culture. Yes!
But, if they are comfortable wearing whatever dresses they wear, or if they like wearing certain dresses, does it harm us? No!
If you think it is a provocation, you need to consult a doctor!
Also, was guys wearing jeans exposing half on their under-wears, a part of Indian Culture? I don't see anyone talking about men wearing shirts and trousers. Why the hypocrisy?
Why I said all this? A clarification that opposing all the above mentioned ways of life, won't help you anyway in saving Indian culture. Moral policing, or even being against it because it is against your personal beliefs, doesn't make you a staunch follower of Indian Culture.
There are some great aspects which are common among all cultures
Family Values: One of India's biggest plus points is that the family system is very strong. We grow up loving many relatives, living with them, meeting them on several occasions, celebrating festivals with them, and have a lot of memories. Gradually, there has been a decline in bonding between family members, and I don't see the closeness anymore. Maybe it has got to do with people moving to different places, and all that, but staying in touch with our family members, and meeting them as frequently as possible will be great!
Respecting our own culture: Earlier in my answer, I wrote how it is one's own wish as to how he will lead his life. Even if we live life the way we like, we should not look at our culture with disgust and treat it as second class. Respecting our culture, even while adapting to good things from other cultures, and not entirely ditching our culture, is the way to go forward. This is again my personal belief, and not Indian culture.
I see a lot of low-self-esteem here; typically liberal answers that are either unaware of the rampant cultural appropriations of Indian traditions like yoga and Indian martial arts or apathetic towards it. Are you aware, for instance, that the West is re-exporting "Christian yoga" to India and Indians (presumably) devoid of self-respect are giving patronage to the establishments that are peddling these lies? Or are you aware of the blatantly racist and idiotic approach of Western Indologists, as exemplified by Wendy Doniger in her recent book, The Hindus - An Alternative History? People wiser than you and I have perceived the gravity of this threat, of which most of us are blissfully unaware. Do consider the fact that Christmas trees and the 25th December celebrations/feast are among the few signs of pre-Christian pagans that survive in today's world. Appropriations (as opposed to borrowing) are often the first step to complete digestion.
There is a proper cultural war that's on which will not be fought with conventional weapons or in conventional ways. The enemies aren't any specific religions, but specifically the exclusivist doctrines ("our way is the only way") of Abrahamism as well as the Macaulayism that plagues the English-medium schools of our country.
I am assuming that by protecting Indian culture, you mean preserving and upholding what is good about it. So, the following collectively constitute my personal toolkit for civilisational survival:
1) Purva Paksha - Know that which we fight. This entails an intimate understanding of the perspective of our adversaries.
2) Committing ourselves to full fluency in an Indian language either of our choice or heritage, and working to make education with an Indian language as medium a viable proposition in India. English must become unnecessary for a considerable number of decent-paying vocations to make development and growth truly inclusive (and to overcome the colonial hangover). We must also stop equating proficiency in English with both sophistication and intellect. At the moment, the indispensability of English excludes hundreds of millions of Indians from well-paying jobs and a good education. When will the IITs start teaching in Bengali, Hindi, Tamil or Oriya? This could be a very long-term project, but it NEEDS to be done, in my view.
3) A spirit of inquiry about India's past glories and a disdain for attempts to denigrate the same. The truth is that India's Left-Liberal cabal (which dominates academia at present) would have us hate our culture and become Anglophile cretins. Thiscannot be allowed. It must be a source of pride that much of our civilisational splendour was achieved in a slave-free society - a rarity around the world. We must be proud that Ancient India was one of the few societies to tolerate, if not celebrate, sexual fluidity. If you're puritanical about such things, it must surely be a source of pride that Indians espoused sustainable living thousands of years before environmentalism took root, due to the ancients' worship of Bhoomidevi, Annapurna Mata and others. Whether you believe in these deities or not is irrelevant. Your faith is irrelevant. This utter brilliance MUST be appreciated.
4) Evolving a sense of community among those who are culturally Indian. Who is "culturally Indian"? Someone who is familiar with the riches of Indian thought and philosophy, who (at least sometimes) wears Indian attire, respects Indian cuisines, who upholds the greatest Indian traditions (such as family values and inherent respect for elders) and who is curious, if not knowledgeable, about Indian art and culture. It goes without saying that one must be fluent in an Indian language, as specified in 2). Now - I'm no fundamentalist, so while one may not be all these things, one should strive nonetheless, in my humble opinion. So those of us who do take pride in the culture should become a bona fide interest group and a close-knit community that mingles and experiments with each other's traditions. Politicians and politics in India must acknowledge and respect its cultural loyalists. Uphold the best traditions of your community, serve the underprivileged - all with the ultimate aim of identifying as a large family.
5) Finally, a commitment to the security and well-being of family and clan, as well as the advancement of the civilisation. This means, for instance, stop bringing up your daughters and sons as timid, docile creatures. In this dangerous world, they must know at least rudimentary self-defense. It could also mean a noble (depending on your POV) cause such as decriminalisation of gay sex. It could mean relinquishing hereditary varna/caste identities. At any rate, stagnancy means destruction and vulnerability. It could also mean marrying good practices from elsewhere with India's inherently pluralistic, progressive, inquisitive ethos. Advancement does NOT mean devolving into the neurotic PC culture of Western democracies at present, as a counter-example. Not saying this is all there is to it, but this is just plain daft.
6) Encouraging 1-5 in our progeny. Our work does not end with our lives. Our children and grandchildren should be soldiers for the cause, if they want to be.
PS: Above all, in the greatest of Indian traditions, question groupthink, seek the truth and let no dogma, no scripture - EVER drown out the voice of your conscience. Any scripture or holy book must only guide you to make a better decision than the one you would make without it.
PPS: Yes, I don't like culture-hating, regressive, hypocritical liberals. No problems with any other kind. :)
Jai Hind!
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