Losing our Culture
25 Sep 1998
SM Gounden @MED.UND.AC.ZA
Hi
I am a 21 yr old South African Indian and I have noticed
that our hindu elders alway complain that we the
younger generation are forgetting our culture etc.
What I would like to say is that there are a few
of us that have not forgotten it and that we want
to learn more. I for one want to know how to
conduct the various havans. The problems is
that the elders dont want to teach us in South Africa
and the gurus and brahmins are too far away in India.
Is there any other way of learning to perform durga
havan or other Indian rituals for that matter.. When
our elders have passed on we need to carry on our
culture and practices..but they have to teach us...
Do young adults have the same problem in India.
thank you
Siva
28 Sep 1998
Vani Murarka @manaskriti.com
Well, my personal opinion is that, in general, though maybe to a lesser
extent - the trend, unfortunately, is the same here in India too - at
least in the larger cities. Parents tend to not take as much pains to
pass on the richness of our culture and values as they should and hence
the knowledge of the following generations in these respects becomes
lesser and lesser - something that has long-term effects to the
individual, the society and its culture.
This is something that starts right from the beginning years of the
child - the teacher at school tells the parent that they should speak
to the child in English to improve the child's command over the
language, so that you find even 3,4 year olds talking to their mothers
in English and feeling positively uncomfortable speaking complete
sentences in their mother tongue - leave alone reading and writing -
other than the mandatory minimum in school which they somehow manage.
In such a scenario, where do you think is the place for further
knowledge for ones' culture. And for this I think the childred and
youngsters are not to blame.
Those who are lucky enough to living with their grandparents - might be
having better exposure.
Nevertheless, if after one comes of age one develops an interest
oneself, at least in India, it is still not tough to get highly
knowledgable people to learn from, if one is really interested and is
willing to stick to it. There are very learned & respected individuals
that one can find to know about ones area of interest or there are good
organisations (like Chinmaya Mission, Bihar School of Yoga - to mention
very few) that one can go too. And its a great enriching experience.
This, at least has been my experience, here in India, in Calcutta.
For those outside India too, I feel if one has the stick-to-it-ivity,
then one does find the right the person. Even if the person to teach is
in India, they are generally very dedicated and disciplined so that it
is possible to get the answers one wants.
Regards
Vani
* Vani Murarka * Manaskriti Software Solutions
* http://www.manaskriti.com * Ph: 4746625 / 4754838 * Calcutta, India
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28 Sep 1998
Franklin Wayne Poley @vcn.bc.ca
On Mon, 28 Sep 1998, Vani Murarka wrote:
> > I am a 21 yr old South African Indian and I have noticed
> > that our hindu elders alway complain that we the
> > younger generation are forgetting our culture etc.
You might get some help from Charles Correa. The last time I heard of his
wherabouts he was Chairman of the National Commission on Urbanization,
Government of India. In the 1970's he was Chief Architect for New Bombay
(Navi Mumbai). This was initially a city built on a totally new site for
250,000 and it is > 1,000,000 today. Charles Correa has a book which the
Vancouver Library holds and it is called "The New Landscape". In that
book he explains how the ancient designers and builders would start with a
divinely inspired plan for a new city and then develop it into a complete
representation of the culture. The geometric form of that divinely
inspired plan was called a mandela.
FWP.
*** British Columbia-the world's first direct electronic democracy under
development http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/BCPolitics;
http://users.uniserve.com/~culturex ***
29 Sep 1998
rc @ix.netcom.com
I think the problem is that the elders also do not know much about it. Those
who are interested will have to make efforts on their own. "Seek and ye
shall find." Read, ask questions and analyze.
Having said that, I must add that you have to make a distinction between 1)
Rites and rituals and 2) Philosophy and spirituality. Many books are
available (Puja Vidhi) on the first. But a "havan" or "puja" does not mean
much unless one knows the significance of the act. It is this aspect which
is difficult. Even the so called "pundits" are often times equally ignorant.
If you have any specific question please write to me at
[email protected].
29 Sep 1998
Setu Shah @mci.com
Try
www.calonline.com
30 Sep 1998
suresh shamanna @graphicint.com
Dear Siva
Visit http://www.bhagavadgita.com An also there is a Multimedia CD-Rom
Called GODS OF INDIA.
Regards
Suresh Shamanna
Chief Execuitve
Object Network Systems
30 Sep 1998
Franklin Wayne Poley @vcn.bc.ca
For more info on Charles Correa check the following links:
http://www.jaring.my/klonline/cahaya/architec/correa/correa.htm
http://www.asia-inc.com/archive/1995/hangover.html
http://www.greatbuildings.com/gbc/architects/Charles_Correa.html
http://www.interiorcity.com/IFI/ifi005b.htm
http://www.lib.duke.edu/lilly/arlis/publications/reviews/9801-5.html
The above link is a review of the book CHARLES CORREA / Kenneth Frampton
and Charles Correa.--New York, N. Y.: Thames and Hudson, dist. by W.
W. Norton, October 1997.--272 p.: ill.--ISBN 0-500-09268-0: $65.00.
This volume also includes a chronology of works tracing Correa's
development through built and unbuilt projects from
1958 through 1996. All projects include a brief paragraph featuring a
description of the site and or purpose of the
project and sometimes a sentence about the importance of the work in his
development. Nearly all the projects are
illustrated by a small black-and-white photograph; in cases where the
project was completed the photograph is of the
building, and in those cases where the project was unbuilt there are
photographs of the models.
The book also includes a section titled "Biodata" which presents a
listing of Correa's professional experience, works
published, interviews, essays, teaching and exhibitions. This section, in
conjunction with the others, make the title an
excellent reference about the professional life of Charles Correa and
would be a desirable addition to any university
library serving undergraduate students in architecture and design.
---Jay
30 Sep 1998
Chief Access Facilitator @webindia.com
I cant understand how Charels Correa can help in cultural views. Also
Charels Correa is over rated as an architect.
Regds
R Krishnan
CAF - Chief Access Facilitator
WebIndia - Welcome to Business in India
http://www.webindia.com/
30 Sep 1998
Chief Access Facilitator @webindia.com
> city planning in India. Remember that China is going to build 500 new
> cities in C21. India could do the same. And each city with its
> surrounding agricultural region is representative of the culture at large.
As far as I saw the cities in China are well maitianed and are
comparable to any in the western hemisphere. ( You could get ur driving
license cancelled for honking the car horn inside the city ). The
comparision ends there. If you go out into the country side it is
similar to India. People still adhereing to old customs and etc. Also
the same infrastructure problems.
IMHO urbanisation and old order social culture cannot exsist in the same
place. Urban culture is totally different and all consuming. It is me or
u. A rat race.
Regds
R Krishnan
CAF - Chief Access Facilitator
WebIndia - Welcome to Business in India
http://www.webindia.com/
30 Sep 1998
Franklin Wayne Poley @vcn.bc.ca
On Wed, 30 Sep 1998, Chief Access Facilitator wrote:
> You might get some help from Charles Correa. The last time I heard of his
> wherabouts he was Chairman of the National Commission on Urbanization,
> Government of India. In the 1970's he was Chief Architect for New Bombay
> (Navi Mumbai). This was initially a city built on a totally new site for
> 250,000 and it is > 1,000,000 today. Charles Correa has a book which the
> Vancouver Library holds and it is called "The New Landscape". In that
> book he explains how the ancient designers and builders would start with a
> divinely inspired plan for a new city and then develop it into a complete
> representation of the culture. The geometric form of that divinely
> inspired plan was called a mandala.
> FWP.
>
> I cant understand how Charels Correa can help in cultural views. Also
> Charels Correa is over rated as an architect.
I was quite impressed by his book, "The New Landscape" and by some of the
housing designs for Navi Mumbai which I saw in the book. If he has the
administrative position that I refer to above he can do a lot for future
city planning in India. Remember that China is going to build 500 new
cities in C21. India could do the same. And each city with its
surrounding agricultural region is representative of the culture at large.
Charles Correa was also on the architectural team in the 1970's which
designed PREVI, Peru, for the U.N. That is an achievement to be proud of
as PREVI was a great success. The architects came from 13 countries.
FWP.
*** British Columbia-the world's first direct electronic democracy under
development http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/BCPolitics;
http://users.uniserve.com/~culturex ***
1 Oct 1998
Franklin Wayne Poley @vcn.bc.ca
On Wed, 30 Sep 1998, Chief Access Facilitator wrote:
> city planning in India. Remember that China is going to build 500 new
> cities in C21. India could do the same. And each city with its
surrounding agricultural region is representative of the culture at large.
> As far as I saw the cities in China are well maitianed and are
comparable to any in the western hemisphere. ( You could get ur driving >
license cancelled for honking the car horn inside the city ). The >
comparision ends there. If you go out into the country side it is >
similar to India. People still adhereing to old customs and etc. Also >
the same infrastructure problems. > > IMHO urbanisation and old order
social culture cannot exsist in the same > place. Urban culture is totally
different and all consuming. It is me or > u. A rat race.
You raise two points which need much consideration in C21 planning: (1)
the choice of a social order; (2) the city as "rat race". China may
continue on the path of emulating the European and Neo-European shift
from urban:rural ratios of 1:4 to 4:1. That "500 new cities policy" by
the way was announced by Dr. Wally N'Dow when he spoke here at Harbour
Centre, Vancouver on Oct. 30/95. I had the good fortune of attending and
For those who want to follow up on this the prototype new city is New
Dalian (sp?) and the Vancouver architectural firm of Bing Thom has a
major contract on the New Dalian planning. Not too many details are in
the media except that this one city alone is a multi-billion dollar
investment. I think China is going to use the city as the mainstay of its
new prosperity in C21. The Economist has predicted that China's GNP will
surpass the US GNP by the first quarter of C21.
But I'm getting a little long winded in my backgrounder. The point I
want to make is that India's choice in social order and urban/rural
population distributions may be far different from China's and it may be
a better choice from the standpoint of preserving the culture and even
future prosperity. I read the UNESCO magazine a few years ago when it was
explaining that India is "a country of villages". I don't think there is
any need to change that. I have here a Hammond map of England just before
the Industrial Revolution when it was a country of villages and just
after when it was a country of cities. The difference is amazing. The
reason for becoming a country of cities had to do with the nature of the
Industrial Revolution. But the world is now entering what some call "The
Information Age". This is the era of telecommuting and the home office.
Does it matter if the hundreds of people receiving this message live in
cities or villages or live in India or Africa or Canada? They still get
the message equally well. Therefore India may decide to perfect the
village, not the city as the unit of C21 culture and that would not
hinder one iota its benefitting from the Information Age.
PREVI, Peru was one such project in perfecting the pollution-free,
pedestrian-oriented village from the 1970's. That UN project was led by
Peter Land who also agreed to help me with the planning of False Creek
Village. Charles Correa was on Peter's team in the 1970's as were eminent
architects from 13 countries. But "perfecting the village" can be done as
well in India as it can here, especially when you have talents like
Charles Correa. There is great resistance here from Mayor Owen when it
comes to excellence on the False Creek project so it may in fact be
better to have this work done in India. It may be that Owen fears a
perfecting of the village in B.C. will lead to population moving away
from the big cities toward villages. Peter Land said Owen's problem was
just simple "political corruption" but I think it bears deeper analysis.
FWP.
