A question of culture

We have seen this before. Japan has already risen like a phoenix after the twin nuclear strikes that ended the Second World War in 1945. They have to do it all over again – well almost. I do not know what exactly is the status of the damaged nuclear facility at Fukushima. Nor do I know the exact extent of damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami on 11, March 2011. Then, today I read the following news item on Japan, which exposes my worst fears.

“Even in a country whose people are known for walking in lockstep, a national consensus on the proper code of behavior has emerged with startling speed. Consider post-tsunami Japan as the age of voluntary self-restraint, or jishuku, the antipode of the Japan of the "bubble" era that celebrated excess.”
The extend of self-restraint and exposition of traditional values in this the twenty first century is something expected from the Japanese.  Japan has elevated those workers fighting to reduce contamination from the damaged reactors to smurai. The Japanese people have voluntarily switched to jishuku by minimising their wants and anything with even a small hint of luxury invites condemnation. This moral fibre is exhibited, when Japan is home to the latest technology in areas of electronics, automobile engineering, and robotics to name a few.

A question that stares me in my face is “what is culture” and by extension “what is Indian culture”
In my quest I found many ‘definitions’. The two I repeat here have been chosen only to illustrate my point.

Definition 1

“India’s languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality. The culture of India is an amalgamation of these diverse sub-cultures spread all over the Indian subcontinent and traditions that are several millennia old.”

Definition 2

“The term culture refers to a state of intellectual development or manners. The social and political forces that influence the growth of a human being is defined as culture. ………rich values in a person always remain unchanged because they are deeply rooted within our hearts, mind, body and soul which we receive from our culture”.

As espoused in definition-2, culture is a set of values which in the Indian sense is to be tolerant, accommodating, open-minded, deeply but not ostensibly spiritual and concerned with the common human welfare. This is how our country has achieved a common culture, despite a staggering pluralistic society.

Does playing holi, dancing a bhangra and wearing a sari represent Indian culture? Or does upholding the values of humanity represent Indian culture. Culture is the values that are deeply rooted within our hearts, mind, body and soul – not what we wear and what we do not. The dance, dress and festivities are at best cultural heritages and do not define culture in themselves. It is this moral fibre (culture) of a Nation which saves it from travails and tragedies.

But then another question is now staring at me.

Philanthropists Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates are visiting India. One of the agenda of their visit is to persuade, coax, goad or encourage the Indian rich to give.

Now, are they more Indian than we are?