Hi,
I am presently in France, the country that has really conserved and protected its cultural heritage nicely and diligently! My journey from India to France gradually turned into a transformation of thoughts regarding the culture and heritage. Protection of one's cultural heritage not only ensures its proper rendering to the generations to come but also helps in building more opportunities of employment for the localites. India undoubtedly has a lot more to render and above all, to protect.
India is now looked upon as the second strongest country in the terms of SOFT POWER, the term coined by Joseph Nye. It refers to the strong and the longlasting influence that a country can exercise over another without any use of military power or threats of economic bans. More precisely, through its cultural instruments.
In this context India does not lag behind. But as far as its internal policies regarding the promotion and the protection of its cultural heritage are concerned, they are just some pious hopes.
What do you think on this matter?
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I do agree that we have neglected out culture and heritage for too long. While some countries like France have made excellent use of their Soft Power to exert clout beyond their economic and military weight. Its time for us to learn something from these countries and start appreciating the importance of Soft Power. I also think the negligence today is the result of lack of implementation and red tape in our country. While apathy of citizens in India towards our culture and lack of any will to do something in this area exacerbates the problems.
ReplyDeleteSiddharth
Yes, Aditi, we have profound and prodigious potential in terms of soft power. Of late, Shahshi Tharoor and other scholars have commented extensively on this very important issue. In an increasingly multipolar world, perhaps the only sustainable differentiator would be the cultural brand and it's influence.
ReplyDeleteThere is a need for the powers to be to sit up and take notice, and consequently convert intent to action!
I completely agree. Culturally, India is infinitely diverse and has a lot more value than perhaps any other country in the world. However sadly, for most of the unexposed people around the globe, Indian culture only means snake charmers and sadhus. There is a definite need to expose the rich diversity of the Indian culture and for the country to be able to use the soft power that she has, it is important that more than the government, the people realize, respect and take pride in their culture.
ReplyDeleteLast paragraph unveil the present situation,
ReplyDeletesummon is needed for preventing the dilapidated condition...
Ya, i do agree with your point Aditi..... India in not only about its external beauty or its heritage. It has got a strong human recourse power by which it can become a leading country in all means. We should recognize the talent and motivate it in right direction.
ReplyDeleteIndia has a very rich and diverse cultural heritage which it should be proud of. The problem with India lagging behind in the preservation is two fold in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, Indian politics comes as a big obstacle in the way of preserving our heritage. In India, the politics is just so much based on petty issues that it creates a divide in the society and no one actually looks at what we are loosing because of that. Indian politics is based mainly on religion and caste. This creates such a big diversion from the real purpose of politics and in the process taking the mind of the people away from our real culture. No one looks at issues from a cultural perspective, rather its always about something being Hindu or Muslim or some other religion or even worse its about different castes. This has to be done away with if India really wants to concentrate on preserving its culture.
Secondly, Whenever Indian culture is talked about, it is done with a sense of regret in the sense that the west has progressed so much while we have lagged behind. It is never looked from the perspective that this actually is our culture and we need to grow with it and not at the cost of it.
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ReplyDeleteHaving seen a considerable posts blaming the government of India regarding its ignorance of enriching the cultural heritage of India, the first thing that comes to my mind is "as usual comments".
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact , yes , the government can do much more, and needs to do more.
This area can also be addressed by various non-profit organizations based on Indian social values and culture. Trust me, you will find a number of them.
They and infact we all can attack this issue from a more dynamic perspective. And not just by signing petitions against the GoI.
Social charity organizations, event management training institutions and NGOs too can come forward.
Coming to the soft power topic. Yes , its indeed excellent image that India has in the world.
But as young Indians, we need to show off the good values of our culture boldly and only get attracted to good values in the western culture.
I totally agree to the wiewpoint laid out in this discussion. In terms of the softpower, India is much ahead compared to any other nation in the world. With so much cultural diversity across the county, the number of languages, food and the strength possessed by each, India should promote the Soft Power pocessed
ReplyDeleteYup...we need to harness our culture and take proactive steps in taking it beyond the geographical boundaries that persist in modern era. But one need to conserve it in its own country 1st, change has to come from within, y blame politics or administration for that matter when we are ourselves no lesser criminals in the case. Gandhi said,"Be the change you wish to see in the world", so everyone has to step up and be good hosts to plenty of visitors from across the world, more often than not, the foreign visitors to Indian heritage are largely looked up as money generators by the so called "Guides" and travel agents. Once we are done making that effort, then we should approach the government/admin for preserving the culture and the heritage which is by far the oldest one
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteits a very true theory in terms of cultural heritage. India, known as the third world, has its own identity regarding existing cultures and traditions though its own system does not seems to be fit for it. globalization had proven its effects regarding the living system living behind the other cultures, but the Indian culture and heritage has come out to be so strong and rich, that its global impact has molded the working of the foreign bodies according to our culture. though we have given so much to the world in terms of culture, and being so rich in its history and culture, it seems somewhere to be effected by the same globalization.
ReplyDeleteregarding its protection, the governing body is not the only one to be blamed. we ourselves are too responsible for it. we are in the line of loosing the heritage as we, "the people of India", are very far from the understanding its importance. france has its government preserving there culture and heritage, but the people there, are aware of the importance of its existence. though india is effected by the power of westernization or globalization, our nation has created the equal effect in the world. the roots are always alive and grow again to its fullest, even after the tree is dead. we are rooted to our culture and always will be, but in terms of heritage, we all need to wake up before its too late. the soft power too needs a force, to make an impact. there is far more to be done, but it all starts with a single step, whether its the system or the people.
i agree .....
ReplyDeleteYes I totally agree with your view point Aditi....
ReplyDeleteIndia pre-independance and pre-mughal period used "soft power". It gave us ZERO which was then taken to persia and then to the rest of the world. Before the invention of telescope astronomers like Varahmihir had complete knowledge about the nakshatras. Like Egyptians knew how to preserve dead the first suregon in the world Charak. Had full knowledge of anatomy. It had its intense culture and spiritual beliefs which even exist today from generation to generation. The longest epic poem Mahabharata longer than Homer's Illiad contains The Song Divine-Bhagavadgita which tells us about the cycle of birth and death and the ways of salvation of the soul by end of desires and three ways to attain it. India never forced its religion and culture on any one like some other countries did, I do not want to name them. It got diversified and satisfied generations with its vast vivid culture right from west to east or south to north even has a different center. It has got talent in every city but is underutlised due to lack of oppourtunities, corruption and a "blessing in disguise" reservation today. But things are getting better day by day and one day it should gain its glory back of the golden bird
ReplyDeletei do agree.
ReplyDeleteWe need enhance our country’s intangible standing in their eyes.The UK has the British Council, the Swiss have Pro Helvetia, and Germany, Spain, Italy and Portugal have, respectively, institutes named for Goethe, Cervantes, Dante Alighieri and Gulbenkian. Today, China has started establishing ‘Confucius Institutes’ to promote Chinese culture internationally.Hence, the more attractive culture, and more numerous channels of communication, always does better than the one which only has guns.
ReplyDeleteAditya
I personally think that we need to rectify the our system from grass root level & the best way to reform the system is through education.Why we don't we improvise on our cultural heritage and attract tourists from all over the world???we need to develop the tourism industry which itself will create a lot of employment and empowerment of indian community........
ReplyDeleteBritain, Canada and Europe have accepted multi-culturalism as the future of the world, the U.S. continues to remain comparatively orthodox. While Britain is right now planning India Now – a fabulous event to showcase the many-splendoured culture of India – and Canada has just inaugurated the biggest Hindu temple/heritage centre in Toronto, unfortunately, US academia is systematically demonizing Indian culture and religion unforgivably in research work that is highly prejudiced and offensive, say Indian intellectuals in the US and India!
ReplyDeleteJust a few weeks before India celebrates the diamond jubilee of its Independence, Britain has paid tribute to this country’s colourful and rich culture by launching the India Now festival. At its inauguration, a huge replica of the Taj Mahal was floated down the grey and cold Thames River in London.
Whole of the world have understood Indian culture's importance, however we are taking some time to understand it better.
I am in consensus with the views expressed by Aditi, when she draws a comparison between India ad France, certainly the French efforts are commendable, I also agree that Indian cultural heritage has played a major role in India developing as a Soft Power, a term more related to International Diplomacy, here I would like to differ with some of my friends who have expressed strong views about the efforts of the Indian govt, to ellaborate further, India is a soft power not because of a long culture and history alone but the roots of India being a soft power have two major landmark events one is the policy decision of the British Govt to use Indians as Plantation workers in other colonies making a considerable presence of people of Indian origin spread across the globe, and second is the policy decision by the Govt of India, under the able leadership of Pandit Nehru to remain non aligned, and soon NAM was the majority alignment, the Indian Govt has stood for the poor countries be it in Environment Summits, the WTO or even the UN, India is a soft power because of the foreign policy of the Indian Govt, yes historic culture helped us in building relations in West Asia and South East Asia. In Africa it is more of the PIO culture similarly in South America.
ReplyDeleteBack home in India, those who blame the GOI will agree that the priority of any govt is first the people, we were in deficit resources for a large span after Independence and now when we have gained a bit though not much we are working in the direction of preservation, hardly a few days back India has sort the assistance of UNESCO in bringing Indian artifacts taken during colonial period and kept in various places in Europe back to India. We have some 3600+ sites of national importance as ancient monuments and archeological sites, over 5000 are being maintained by ASI in total. We have some 21 UNESCO world Heritage sites. The Indian Sahitya Academi is functional since 1950’s we also have a number of museums, national archives, recently in 2003 India opened a Museum of Manuscripts, the National Museum Calcutta is the largest in Asia and the 8th oldest in the world. Moreover we have recently launched a Traditional Knowledge Library a potent tool to prevent patenting of Indians traditional knowledge. Even the Akshardham Temples are a clear picture of Indian Cultural Heritage.
On the closing note, culture and heritage protection has never been a part of Indian culture, but for one or two odd examples during majority of our history people have not worked to protect and preserve. The most crucial and by far the only aspect of Indian culture in our history of 5000 yrs has been our ability to adapt and accommodate the changes, be it the Aryan wave, the Huns, Kushans, Turks, Mughals, Europeans all are part of Indian Culture and therefore the excellent opportunity for soft diplomacy internationally and its usage in keeping Indian as a Nation.
Shantanoo Saxena (saxena.shantanoo@gmail.com)
We have come to a point in the life of our nation where we've overcome the debacles of being oppressed by foreign rule, at least to an extent where we've begun to test our strength in the global arena. This is why we're asking ourselves if we have the "soft power" to make the world sit up and notice. We are going to various parts of the world for jobs and education, and in the process, changing the way we perceive our country. Soft Power is a very apt term especially for a country where non-violence was preached for centuries and was revisited by the Mahatma during the struggle for freedom .
ReplyDeleteHowever, soft power goes beyond being just an exhibition of culture for outsiders. Soft Power lies in knowing the value of one's heritage, both tangible and intangible. It is an intrinsic quality that allows us to evolve and not imitate. Every step in every direction is backed by a solid faith in our past. Not rituals but philosophy. This has less to do with the Indian Government and more to do with a young Indian's mindset.