By Upali Bhattacharya
Culture can be defined as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law custom and any other capabilities acquired by people as members of the society. Every society has its own distinct culture. Whatever we have learnt till now is because we are a part of a particular culture. There is no instinct or biological endowment which teaches us to brush our teeth, comb our hair, wash our clothes etc., hence every small and insignificant thing which we do out of mere habits are also associated with culture. Culture is transmitted from one generation to another through learning and social interaction. Social interaction is important for acquiring culture, because there have been instances when a person who was deprived from the society didnt know the basic things like sitting or walking. No one can acquire culture without association with human beings and it can also be gradually lost through deprivation of social interaction with other human beings. We are not born human but become human by acquiring the culture of our society.
Culture also takes the form of social heritage. If a generation fails, to transmit some part of its culture to the future generation, then that part of the culture will disappear and maybe rediscovered later. Thus, we do not know things which our ancestors knew. Hence, culture is conceived as a stream flowing down from one generation to another through centuries. If culture wasnt there to shape our lives the way it is now, there would hardly be any difference between animals and human beings. Language is an important element because it helps in the transmission of culture, and culture is something which is share by a group of people, it cannot be possessed by an individual. Culture distinguishes one society from another. What we see, how we think depends on our upbringing and how our culture defines things.
In the age of globalisation, any culture cannot exist in isolation and thus, gets influenced by other cultures around the world. The western culture has spread across the world. Even in our country, the western culture has swept across all the states and has a major impact on the youth of the nation. It is important to adapt and stay informed of all other cultures, but at the same time it is also very important to guard our own culture, so that it doesnt get lost in this wave of cultural homogenisation. The youth of our nation, finds the western culture far more interesting than our own. There is no harm in wearing denims, or eating from the western food joints or listen to pop, rock music by the greatest musicians the world has seen. But we should also keep in mind that our very own culture is so rich and provides us with information about how diverse our country is and how every state has its own culture. Hence, to preserve the dying essence of culture, we should study the literature by some of the greatest writers like Tagore, Premchand, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, listen to the classical music and know more about the music legends like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Bhimsen Joshi, Hariprasad Chaurasia and the likes. Rabindranath Tagore had said, we should be receptive of the western culture, but without ignoring our own culture.
I am a first year college student, pursuing sociology honors in Lady Shree Ram College, Delhi University. I am a pass out from Mount Carmel School, Anand Niketan being the topper of humanities. Im an avid reader, mostly fiction. I also like debating and have been part of various MUN sessions. Issues like politics, religion, culture, society etc are my areas of interest. Apart from reading, I also write abstract verses, listen to music mostly coldplay, billy joel and the simple plan, and also like watching tv series like castle, boston legal, the big bang theory and how i met your mother. The issues of terrorism, religion, feminism and gender also lie in my interests of reading and writing.