Idiotic Debates

Arrayed on the opposite side will be a very much smaller band of speakers, arguing that Indias culture, which has stood like a rock for 2,500 years, is altogether too resilient to be destroyed by TVs trivia. They may also argue that culture is what the people want it to be, not what a bunch of busybodies think it ought to be. And a very small minority will make the point, softly for the fear of being branded anti-national, that there are many aspects of Indian culture which are not worth preserving such as the stereotyped portrayal of women as second-class citizens.

 

Indias is not unique in suffering from such angst. Busybodies in France are constantly writhing in frustration over what they regard as an unacceptable penetration of their several idiosyncratic cultural ways. So, amazingly, do busybodies in Finland, Canada, and Pakistan, to name just three more examples. All to no avail, of course. The people of these countries vote with their eyes and ears and the grumbling goes on, often only to be deftly exploited by local business interests.

It turns also out that protests about cultural invasion are loudest in countries which are culturally the most insecure. You do not hear the British whinging about such things, nor do you hear similar whimpers from Bangladesh. Both these countries, as indeed scores of others, feel confident that their cultures are in no danger from the ephemera of TV. This suggests that India, more than any other country, should exhibit the same degree of confidence in its people and its culture. After all, ever since the Aryan hordes devastated Mohanjedaro, they have shown an uncanny ability to take the best of foreign cultural influences and reject the rest.

So what explains the worry? One reason could simply be ignorance. If you do not know your culture and its strengths, you are likely to worry. Another could be misplaced nationalism, both of the Left and the Right variety. While the Left thinks nothing of its own imported ideology, the Right finds virtue in the silliest aspects of Indias cultural traditions. It escapes both these groups that what matters is not where an idea originates but simply whether it is good or bad. In the final analysis, it is this test that should be applied. Unfortunately for the busybodies, only the people are in the best position to do so. So why not let them decide?