INDIAN CULTURE

Culture- Features & Characteristics……..

The word culture has a specific meaning is sociology, different from the common use in
language. In social sciences culture, which is socially transmitted rather than biologically in
human society. Culture in its broadest sense is the way of the life of a social group. The groups
are totally man made, including all the material and non material products of group’s life that are
transmitted from one generation to the next.

Important Definition

E.B. Taylor : Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals,
law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society
(Primitive Culture, Vol 1.1871)

Characteristics/ Features of Culture

1. Culture is Learnt

Culture is not inherited biologically, but learnt socially by man. It is not an inborn
tendency. There is no cultural instinct as such, culture is often called Learned ways of
behaviour, such as closing the eyes while sleeping, the eye blinking reflex and soon are
purely physiological and not culture.

2. Culture is Social

Culture does not exist in isolation. Neither is it an individual phenomenon. It is a product

of society. It originates and develops through social interactions. It is shared by the
members of society.

3. Culture is Shared

Culture in a sociological sense is something shared. It is not something that an individual

alone can possess. E.g. customs, traditions, beliefs, ideas, values, morals etc. are all
shared by people of a group or society.

4. Culture is transmitted

Culture is capable of being transmitted from one generation to the next. Parents pass on
culture traits to their children and they in turn to their children and so on. Culture is
transmitted not through genes but means of language.

5. Culture is Continuous & Cumulative

 Culture exists as a continuous process. In its historical growth it tends to become
cumulative. Culture is a growing whole which includes in itself, the achievements of past
and present and makes provision for the future achievement of mankind.” Culture may
thus be Conceived of as a kind of stream flowing down through the centuries from one
generator to another.”

6. Culture is consistent and Integrated

Culture in its development has revealed a tendency to be consistent. At the same time
different parts of culture are interconnected. E.g. The value system of a society is closely
connected with its other aspects such as morality, religion, customs, tradition, beliefs,
and so on.

7. Culture is Dynamic and Adaptive

Though culture is relatively stable it is not altogether static. It is subject to slow but
constant changes. Change and growth are latent in culture. We find amazing growth in
the present Indian culture when we compare it with the culture of the Vedic times.
Culture is responsive to the changing condition of the physical world.

It is adaptive. It also intervenes in the natural environment and helps man in his process
of adjustment.

8. Culture is Gratifying

Culture Provides proper opportunities and prescribes means for the satisfaction of our
needs may be biological or social in nature. Our need for food, shelter and clothing on
the one hand, and our desire for status, name, fame, money mates, ete. Are all fulfilled
according to the cultural ways.

9. Culture varies from Society to Society

Every society has a culture of its own. It differs from society to society. Culture of every
society is unique to itself. Cultures are not uniform.

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Differences with Western Culture..

Difference Between Indian Culture and Western Culture………………

When Kipling said, the East is east, the West is west, the twain shall never meet, he has in his
mind the opposite nature of the philosophy and value systems of the East and the West.

The eastern philosophy or way of life is spiritualistic while the western civilization is materialistic,
hedonistic and pragmatic; one is based on religion and the other is based on science and
reason. Naturally there is a conflict between the two between head and heart. We can overcome
the conflict if we could make a synthesis of these two opposite values.

The western philosophy has at all times consistently adopted success as the goal of human life
while Indian Philosophy insisted on perfection as the goal of human life. Perfection is spiritual
and value centered, while success is materialistic and production centered.

Most of the saints of the East lead a plain living because high living means materialistic living.
Goutam Buddha left the throne and came down to embrace the life of a mendicant to research
the ultimate truth.

Indian thinking is basically spiritualistic living because Indian philosophy looks upon body and
soil as two different entities. The soul is immortal while the body is subject to death and decay.
Indians concentrate on the development of soul or moral development and they do not give
much importance to present living. They prefer to live a plain life so that they can give more
energy and thought to the development of spiritualism. Simple living and high thinking it is the
disregard of this principle that is the root cause of all evils manifested in our environment and
disharmony among the people. The fragmentation of the human consciousness accelerated by
science and technology has destroyed the golden maxim for higher values: simple living, high
thinking. The opposite has been taking place, complex living and low thinking.

The negative consequences of standard of living, consumerism and economic growth have
become the gospels of our times.
Western thought has been largely materialistic. Explosive growth in scientific knowledge about
the physical wood has had an all pervasive influence. Major social scientists viewed spirituality
and religion as anachronistic, Marx called it the ‘opium of the people

And Freud considered it as an illusion. The western models of man and management are
bound to prove inadequate in addressing the problems of modern society.

Indians are eager to develop the human faculties so that they can realize the real meaning of
life and the purpose of our existence on earth. They do not care for this transient and temporary
living on earth; they search for the eternal life of truth, beauty and goodness. Hence neither
materialism nor high living is consistent with Indian way of living.

In the western way of living there is competition, tension and restlessness while Indian living is
based on cooperation, mental place and tranquility.

Materialism aims at attaining a high standard of living. To achieve a high standard of living we
need more and a variety of goods and services. The western society is running at a high speed
to reach what Prof. W. W. Rostow has called the ‘High Mass Consumption Society, a society
where everybody will have an automobile. This is the maximum which materialism can give.

Modern science and technology are the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They
are not evil in themselves but they become evil when they are separated from spiritualism.
Science is the worst form of knowledge, the knowledge of the material world through reason.

According to Dr. Einstein, we should not worship intellect. Intellect may be powerful but has no
personality. It can only serve, not lead. It may have a sharp eye for methods and tools but is
blind to ends and values.

The unbridled pursuit of having more independence of ethical and moral considerations has led
to social desideration and moral disorientation. It is ironic that English society which has for
decades sneered at Church going people now accuse the Church for not providing moral
leadership to the nation. A depressing loss of idealism has invaded Western society. After
communism’s death. And the disappointments of the capitalist version of Economic Man, a
sense of philosophical bankruptcy has spread in the western world.

Management presupposes the existence of man. No man, no management, no production. The

President of a Multinational Corporation once remarked, I do not manufacture automobiles. I
build only men because I may have built those things.

This is exactly the Indian approach; the objective is not to produce more goods but to produce
the right man. This race for production and distribution has brought forth a lust for profit all
round, ends rule supreme, means are discounted. Hence management has been reduced to be
the handmaid of profiteering. This phenomenon is found in abundance in the west especially in
the USA which has become the world both in materialism and management. To the western
management, the worker is all, man stands nowhere. He is treated like a hired commodity which
is paid for and rewarded as long as it is serviceable. The moment he ceases to be such, he
stands discredited and is promptly replaced. The workforce resort to underhand pressures just
as much as possible to dupe the management. Conflicts are common, violence is rampant,
absenteeism is the rule and strikes and breakdowns are daily occurrences. Naturally production
is lost, unemployment emerges and society suffers. The materialistic management has done
more harm than good. The capitalist has grown richer, man has been reduced to a higher wage
earner and society has been placed at mercy of the materialist in Management.

It is a truism to say that contemporary Indian Society is today in the midst of the greatest crisis
in history. Our dilemma is due to the lack of adjustment of the human spirit to the spectacular
development in science and technology. In spite of the fact that the great scientific inventions
have liberated us from servitude to nature, we seem to suffer from cultural disintegration.
Science has relieved us of grinding poverty, mitigated our physical pain. Yet we suffer from an
inward loneliness. The only way out for us today is a moral and spiritual revolution which should
embrace the world.

The western people say knowledge is power but Indians say character is power.

Indian ethos focuses on moral development, development of character and refinement of

human values. As Sri Aurobindo said moral development makes an individual complete human
being a total man and not an economic man.

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Human Values…..

Values provided more generalized standards of behaviours compared to norms which are more
specific. It is an abstract generalized principle of behaviour to which the members of a group
feel a strong, emotionally, toned positive commitment & which provides a standard for judging
specific acts & goals. To sociologists, values are constituent facts of social structure. The
sociologist does not try to assess their intrinsic worth, but he treats them as scare objects of
socially conditioned desire unevenly distributed and differentially ranked.

The issue of value is discussed by Durkheim and Weber in sociological study. Durkheim rejects
the importance of values in sociological inquiry and theorizing to avoid subjectivity. Weller
advocated that value orientations can both be avoided, although a sociologist must avoid value
judgements. Value neutrality is considered as indispensable for scientific sociology.

A social value is always different from an individual value. An individual seeks an individual
value for his own self. Instances of individual values would be money power & prestige. A social
value however contains a concern for others. Welfare social values are organized within the
personality of the individual and regulate his thinking and behaviour. The ethos of any culture
reflects its basic values. Thus the American culture may be dominated by a belief in material
progress & the Indian culture is marked by spiritualism.

Values provide essential organizing principles for the integration of individual & group goals
because of the strong emotional feeling attached to the value and because they serve as
standards for judging concrete rules, goals or actions, they are often regarded as absolute.,
although the formation and apprehensions of values evolve in the normal process of social
interaction. Since values guide choices of objects & behaviour, the study of values involves the
study of attitude, behaviour interaction and social structure.

Norms are the rules of behaviour which reflect or embody a culture’s values. Values and norms
work together to shape how members of a culture behave within their surroundings. For e.g. in
cultures that value learning highly, cultural norms would encourage students to devote great
energy to studying and would support parents in making sacrifices for children’s education. In a
culture that places great value. On hospitality, cultural norms might guide expectations about
fights given or about the social behaviours of both guests and hosts.

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Values in Work Life…..
Five Human Values

Human Values at Work (HVW) focuses on how you can work in accord with your own spiritual
view of life and five Human Values that are found cross-culturally in all spiritual traditions:

- Truth

- Righteousness

- Peace

- Love

- Non-violence

Benefits of the Human Values at Work

- Truth fosters trust and open, honest communications

- Righteousness fosters high quality work and keeping of agreements

- Peace fosters creative and wise decisions, and a focus on resolving issues rather than
blaming

- Love fosters service based on sincere caring for others' well-being

- Non-violence fosters win-win collaboration, with respect for people and the
environment

Practices of the Human Values at Work

- Truth – speaking honestly with employees and customers; speaking openly and
caringly rather than behind someone’s back

- Righteousness – conducting business with fair prices and ethical practices; keeping
agreements with all stakeholders; taking responsibility for problems, rather than making
excuses

- Peace – practicing equanimity, even in crises or loss; seeing yourself as the source of
your emotional reactions, rather than the victim of others’ behaviour

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Value Crisis in Contemporary Indian Society.
A healthy society is built on good values. Indian society is based on democratic principles and
secular belief.

The values of a good society in India, took a strong blow during the Babri Masjid / Ayodhya and
Godhra / Ahmedabad episodes in the early nineties and during the Gujarat incident, when the
secular fabric was torn apart.

Many a time religious cover is used to justify some vested fanatical interests.

The waves of violence and reprisals and counter reprisals have caused permanent scars.

Most people experienced the breakdown of law and order. It was followed by the collapse of
social and legal structure and of so called orderly society. This was a society where neighbors
had lived for years in the spirit of the religious community to which they belonged. It was a
normal meltdown.

The values of the Indian society not only of the rioters and selfish politicians but the entire nation
needed rethinking.

The community depends upon a common set of values. It is even enshrined in our constitution
that we are a secular nation and the right includes religious freedom and right to worship,
among others.

When these values drain away, communities exist only superficially with deep current of hatred
and communal prejudices.

Similarly, during the emergency enforcement period by late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi in
the late seventies, the democratic values were ignored.

Value crisis in society rises, when people see for themselves that businessmen maximize their
profits from income tax evasion, smuggling, speculation, custom duty evasion, hoarding and
monopoly and adulteration etc.

Values crisis in society arises also when a manufacturer becomes selfish and wants to make
more profits and does not want to spend money in treating toxic effluents or toxic gas before
they are discharged to surroundings.

The values in society are upheld when people bear the responsibility of fulfilling obligation,
following proper procedures, doing the right thing, adhering to moral standards determining
ethical values of actions.

Actions are morally right irrespective of their consequences, for secularists it is right to keep
promises, for the religious it is right to obey TEN Commandments, the Fiat or The Qumran,
regardless of personal costs or benefits.
The globalization, privatization and liberalization of Indian Economy which started into eh mid
nineties, have opened the floodgates of consumerism and the corruption and wrong doings of
individuals the growing importance of materialistic values of life has been down playing
significantly the other life values like the moral, spiritual and aesthetical.

The selfish and corrupt motives of stock brokers like Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh during
the last decade have besought miseries and ruined many middle class families.

The selfish individualistic profit motives of the real estate builders have created concrete jungles
in towns and cities and have destroyed the aesthetic values of nature.

Further examples of decline in the value system in the individual levels may be given as
follows:

1. The adoption of dubious standards of judgment for the rich and poor by the ethics
class and bearcats.
2. Not being conscious about one’s duty and responsibility the doctors and nurses
are ignoring the interests of patients and teachers are ignoring the students’
necessities.
3. The elected members of assemblies and parliament hardly look after the welfare
of the people who have elected them.

The values crisis in the academic field is exhibited with the little evidence of virtues like
intellectual honesty, humility and objectivity which were earlier considered the useful hallmarks
of a truehearted person.

Also, the characters of politicians have been tarnished by corruption, scams and nexus with anti
socials.