Acharya Tulsi
For the last couple of years, in the name of modernism, a tendency to make fusion of cultures here has been noticed. It appears that this fusion is in is more common in India than it is abroad. Elements of Vedic culture are so intimately mixed with Jain culture that to see them severally is almost impracticable. It all happened in the name of defending our existence. But what is the compulsion before the Indians now, that they are indulged in accepting common practices of other cultures.
Our villages are being influenced by urban culture and the urban space is being influenced by borrowed culture. In the mad rush for economic liberation human values are being lost and in the name of freedom of expression social harmony is being threatened. Man, bearing a cosmetic smile on his face, wants to show that he is happy. But there is a conflict going within him. Self-cantered thinking is the main cause of disintegration of the age-old family bond. The changing cultural values are posing scepticism on the existence of our culture.
Let us, for example, examine the culture of organizing birthdays. There was a time in our country when only the birthdays of great men and women were celebrated. Celebrating children’s birthday was not common those days. For the last few decades Celebrating birthday of children has become a common social event. So far as celebrating a particular day for family rejoice is concerned, we cannot comment on it, but the way these celebrations are organized is against Jain as well as Vedic ethos.
Our first concern is our language. Giving importance to English in the name of life standard is nothing but an incident of gross neglect to our mother tongue.
