Are Indians Forgetting their Cultures?

According to the Oxford English dictionary, culture means the customs, beliefs, art, way of life, and social organizations of a particular country or group. Since India is the home of different groupswith different cultural heritages therefore an amalgamated form of all these can be seen as Indian culture.
Indian culture is the richest existing culture on this planet. There are many groups of people living in India and every group has their own ethics which are different from others. Some cultures teach us to sleep early so we can wake up at dawn and indulge in yoga which can help us to stay fresh and energetic throughout the day. In Indian guests are considered as God “Athithi Devo Bhava”.
A person’s cultural values are defined by the way they talk, think, eat, sit, celebrate, stand, and so on. So, Indian culture nowadays is just the changes Indians have made incrementally over the years to their personalities.
The culture of Indian society is a blessing. In the Indian society, every person is exposed to a variety of languages, religion, and food. In the Indian culture respecting elders is a must. Grandparents are a part of their family, the relatives get involved in their life, staying in marriage for the sake of children even if they are not comfortable with their spouse. Also an integral part of the Indian culture is to know how to adjust with each other, spend time with family members, having breakfast, lunch and dinner with family, accepting and respecting the decisions of one’s parent’s. One must know about their religion like “Gotra” & “Kull”, etc.
Well in today’s era, Indians are forgetting their old cultures and traditions. It is the duty of every person of our society to bequeath their culture to the next generation, but we have failed in doing so. The boys and girls of this generation especially in metro cities don’t even know what native languages spoken in our country are. Nowadays people are not allowed to enter malls and restaurant due to discrimination. One such incident occurred on 11th November 2019 with one popular Hindi author at a restaurant in Connaught Place, Delhi. The author was wearing a Gamcha on his neck and he was denied to enter the restaurant. It is a dark reality which is hard to accept.
Earlier people used to have interest in mythology. They used to spend time with their grandparents while they told mythological stories. Today no one is interested in learning “shlokas”. Earlier in school assemblies we used to have Hindi or Sanskrit prayers but today we only have prayers in English. Some people don’t even know how to sing a bhajan because singing English prayer seems more modern despite of the fact that Hindi prayers are our tradition. Today, at many places speaking Hindi is considered shameful. People nowadays speak only in English because it looks more modern and cooler. In today’s world the girls who wear traditional dresses are called “behenjis”. And boys who don’t dress up in modern ways are called “bhaiyajis” or “dullards”. Today “Namaste” has been replaced by hello and “Pranam” has been removed from the dictionary. Nowadays people read English or French novels but nobody tries to read Bhagwat Geeta or Geetanjali. Infact some people don’t even know about their mythology. Earlier there were joint families. People used to live together, enjoy and spend quality time with their families. They used to eat together and trust me it was fun. But nowadays, it is difficult to live in a joint family. We all want privacy and don’t want anyone to enter in our personal life.
People have started living in nuclear families. Outdoor games have been replaced by mobile games. Earlier people used to spend time with their families and talk to them while sitting around the dinning table where every member used to sit during meals but nobody does that now. Nobody loves to sit together. At dinner table, instead of talking to each other, everyone is either busy using their phones or watching any television serial. Today, if a person is wearing jeans and t-shirts, they are considered more modern and up to date but wearing sarees or salwar suits means that the person is old fashioned. Gurukuls have been replaced by Covenant Schools, Hindi and Sanskrit has been made an optional subject. According to a report, most marriages in USA don’t work because of lust and India is moving in the same direction. In India peopleare mostly into casual hookups and casual relationships. Instead of marriages, live-in is preferred.
This is all because of the western culture. There is no problem in accepting the western culture but at least one should not forget about their original culture. There is a line said by Rabindranath Tagore which is “Paschim aaji khuliyachhe daar, setha hote shobe aane upohaar, Dibe aar nibe, milaabe-milibe, jaabe na phire” which means the west has opened its doors, our people are bringing in gifts from there, there is exchange of values and ideas, many are richer because of it, no one is turned away.
THE QUESTION IS WHY CAN’T WE ACCEPT OUR OWN CULTURE?

– Aditya Sinha