Can you guess, the world’s only culture which is made up of rich heritage and centuries of history? Yes, I am talking about one of the world’s most important and oldest cultures. The Indian culture. Which is, if I might add full of traditions, art, architecture, fashion, celebrations, food, and the list goes on and on. And, it doesn’t just limit to this much, Indian culture has been very dynamic and diverse, since ancient times, and to put it in short- unending. Now moving on, what does the Indian culture actually mean?
One aspect of the Indian culture is the philosophy it teaches. The Indian philosophy is mostly about karma, dharma, and meditation. For the Indians, karma is not just doing good and getting back good, but actually, it’s receiving and accepting back our good and even your bad deeds. It’s all about what facing life is. It’s about the pros of helping someone and the cons of neglecting someone.
Dharma in the Indian culture is not just someone’s duties or rituals fulfilled due to some laws or customs but dharma is the important set of guidelines one follows to lead a spiritual, calmful, and energetic life. Dharma for the Indians is as necessary as food is for them, it provides us stability in life. Followed by this is another important aspect of Indian Philosophy and the Indian Culture, meditation, we, the Indians believe that meditation is much needed in one’s life to allow them to clear their path or their main true objective in life.
Meditation is just like medication for us. It allows us to get better in times of different health issues, guides us in making hard decisions in life, helps us introspect, and even allows us to grow as people, and as an individual.
Another aspect of the Indian culture is the sense of togetherness it brings amongst the people who follow the culture and traditions. You might be thinking, how does the Indian culture promote togetherness? Well, some of the things in the Indian culture that promote unity and the sense of collective belonging are the numerous festivals, melas, and even the political rallies it promotes.
The Indian culture means the people, it means the collectiveness of the people, the harmony between people, and of course the unity between them. Indian Culture has over 50 major and most celebrated festivals each and every single year. To be a believer in the Indian culture, I would further like to say that each of that festival is related to various victories of Gods or the numerous achievements that bestow them.
Further, the Indian culture talks about the several political rallies it promotes. Even, the riots that take place in India are what the Indian culture is about. It teaches us how to collectively protest or stand against what we feel is incorrect.
In us, Indians, this culture is inculcated in our hearts, ever since we learn how to talk and walk. It affects our way of expressing and representing ourselves while communicating with someone. The way we walk, the way we eat, and even the way our personalities are shaped, is what the Indian ethos offers us. The Indian culture, in subtle ways, teaches us how to respect others, irrespective of their age or their gender. Small things like joining our hands or putting our hands on our hearts and saying namaste, and even touching the feet of our elders out of respect and a sense of gratitude.
Our parents nagging us to keep ourselves clean during the festive season is a way of showing respect towards a festival or God itself. If you think that the word God is just a myth, the Indian culture proves that by showcasing the parents and the guests as an entity, larger than humans, and giving them the best of our services, whenever they need it.
Every God or every story related to them has moral values, which are integrated into us through our parents to our subconscious minds by the means of bedtime stories or books they give us. Even though it is debatable whether those stories are true or not, one thing is for sure they stay with us till we die and help us in a lot of aspects of our life.
Even though the Indian culture is portrayed as something which is all glam and has no soul, the truth is, that the soul of the Indian culture is the people that are a part of it. Just like your food without salt and spices is bland and inedible, the culture without its people feels dead and soulless. This symbiotic relationship between the people and the culture is what helps India show its colorful and cultural side. To put it simply, the foundation of any nation is the culture, and for India, the culture is all about the people.
In a nutshell, I’d like to say that all of this is what the Indian culture is all about, what it teaches, and what it means. Indian Culture might seem complex or a culture with a lot of customs and traditions but believe me, it is the world’s most logical and simplest culture. At last, I would just like to say that Indian Culture is deep-seated in every Indian’s heart and they proudly show it off to the world.
