August 4, 2011
Today Mr. Chiranjiv Singh spoke to us about culture and society of India. This is a vast subject, but he did well educating us about the basics in Indian culture. He began by telling us that India has the oldest continuous surviving culture, which is approximately 6-7 thousand years old. Western inluence has threatened to influence the culture so much that it remains to be seen whether the culture will be strengthened or become something new altogether.
Mr Singh spoke to us about the caste society, which has five different levels for which to separate Indian people into. It has been challenged in the past by the Jain, Buddhist, Islamic, and Sikhist religions, but remains strong today even though it was outlawed. It will most likely take several generations for the system to change. This has influenced the culture in such a way that hierarchy is a natural part of people’s work, family, school, etc. lives. For instance, Mr. Sikh explained that teachers and professors are thought to be “guru’s” in India, and students are not free to question them or engage in discussions because they are God-like. People who teach are essentially bringing the student out of darkness (ignorance) into the light (awareness).
One of the most interesting things that Mr. Sikh said was that most Indians believe in “therma,” or thebelief that one has an innate nature to fulfill in life. For example, fire’s therma is to burn. This allows India to have order despite all of the disorder.