10-09-2004, 12:20 PM
India is a heterogeneous society and it is diffciult to speak of a common set of core values for all sections of society. Certainly i dont believe the communists share a commonset of core values with the rest of the population and in fact they would be cheering the loudest if and when the republic fails. One can talk of a an Indic set of core values stemming from the Indic civilization. I regret to say that in my view very few of these are shared by the islamic universe. So what are these core values that make the Indic civilization so unique in the world and what is it about them that is worth preserving ? I will warn you this is controversial , but if you diagree pl. do so in a reasoned manner
1. First is a reverence for life and the belief in the presence of divinity in all living beings. All sections among the Indics believe in this. Long before the Greens discovered the environmental movement, the Indic learnt to live in harmony with the nature surrounding him and disciplined himself not to tax mother nature overly . people wll point out counterexamples (e.g. riots) asnd that the Hindu is violence prone, but i stick to my assertion. The reason the Mahabharata makes such a unique tale is in part due to the fact that war was considered a last resort to settle disputes and unlike Bush did not use it as a first option. Incidentally while this may be relatively unique in the modern world, shamanic religions among central asians and the north american indians share this reverence for nature.
2. The Hindu familial structure and the extended family relationships are a feature of the indian landscape, although this is not entirely unique to india. An individual may be corrupt financially, but it is far less likely he will break the social mores of his extended tribal family even though he may be part of the diaspora. Being under colonial and foreign domination for 8 centuries has devalued the notion of nationhood and has placed a hgher premium on tribal and community loyalty.
3. Live and let live - again this is unique to the Hindu world. None of the prophetic religions exhibit this kind of a laissez faire attitude to personal beliefs. It is rare that a Hindu exhibits vengeful feelings towards somebody simply because he comes from a different or an alien culture or subscribes to a different belief system.
4. The indic place a high value on Dharma or duties and responsibility to the community around him. Unfortunately such a concept of Dharma does not include probity in public life, presumably because they were ruled for so long by alien rulers. Cheating the authority is not considered a violation of the Dharmik way of life. A corollary is the belief in a bank account in the sky, and that sooner or later one is accountable for one's actions
5. Love of learning and curiosity about the universe around them. This is undeniably one of the strengths of the indic civilization.
6. An ethnocentric view of global problems. Again while this is not unique to the Indic it is a serious impediment to taking a strategic view of India's place in the world. There is a plaintive aspect to Indian foreign policy (we consider it right why dont you). In fact Nehru wrote Kennedy after the goan conquest 'why is it you criticize something that thrills our people so much' forgetting that the AngloSaxon West would never approve a defeat of a European nation (esp. a NATO nation) by a ex colony. Vajpayee committed a similar faux pas when he wrote a letter to Clinton placing the responsibility for POK II on China (which got China completely enraged). This could easily have been foreseen. Closer to home, i initiated a series of threads (which continue even today in BR) on US India relations from an american perspective, which got quite a few BRites riled up (why should we worry what the US perspective is ?)
Well these are good for starters
1. First is a reverence for life and the belief in the presence of divinity in all living beings. All sections among the Indics believe in this. Long before the Greens discovered the environmental movement, the Indic learnt to live in harmony with the nature surrounding him and disciplined himself not to tax mother nature overly . people wll point out counterexamples (e.g. riots) asnd that the Hindu is violence prone, but i stick to my assertion. The reason the Mahabharata makes such a unique tale is in part due to the fact that war was considered a last resort to settle disputes and unlike Bush did not use it as a first option. Incidentally while this may be relatively unique in the modern world, shamanic religions among central asians and the north american indians share this reverence for nature.
2. The Hindu familial structure and the extended family relationships are a feature of the indian landscape, although this is not entirely unique to india. An individual may be corrupt financially, but it is far less likely he will break the social mores of his extended tribal family even though he may be part of the diaspora. Being under colonial and foreign domination for 8 centuries has devalued the notion of nationhood and has placed a hgher premium on tribal and community loyalty.
3. Live and let live - again this is unique to the Hindu world. None of the prophetic religions exhibit this kind of a laissez faire attitude to personal beliefs. It is rare that a Hindu exhibits vengeful feelings towards somebody simply because he comes from a different or an alien culture or subscribes to a different belief system.
4. The indic place a high value on Dharma or duties and responsibility to the community around him. Unfortunately such a concept of Dharma does not include probity in public life, presumably because they were ruled for so long by alien rulers. Cheating the authority is not considered a violation of the Dharmik way of life. A corollary is the belief in a bank account in the sky, and that sooner or later one is accountable for one's actions
5. Love of learning and curiosity about the universe around them. This is undeniably one of the strengths of the indic civilization.
6. An ethnocentric view of global problems. Again while this is not unique to the Indic it is a serious impediment to taking a strategic view of India's place in the world. There is a plaintive aspect to Indian foreign policy (we consider it right why dont you). In fact Nehru wrote Kennedy after the goan conquest 'why is it you criticize something that thrills our people so much' forgetting that the AngloSaxon West would never approve a defeat of a European nation (esp. a NATO nation) by a ex colony. Vajpayee committed a similar faux pas when he wrote a letter to Clinton placing the responsibility for POK II on China (which got China completely enraged). This could easily have been foreseen. Closer to home, i initiated a series of threads (which continue even today in BR) on US India relations from an american perspective, which got quite a few BRites riled up (why should we worry what the US perspective is ?)
Well these are good for starters