Progressiveness of society -2

After the first post on the same topic I received some feedback stating that I didn't drive home the point clearly and was roving about aimlessly. So I take my second chance writing about the same header but in a different context or rather a follow up to the first one.

Resistance to change is one of the most debatable points in mainstream society. Recently I saw a tamil program on Tv "Neeya Naana" (You or Me) a debate/talk show which pits one side of the society and the other side against each other on a variety of topics. The topic under discussion was Modernity vs tradionality and a lot of interesting comments were exchanged between both sides. Though not all points were reasonable and mature it gave a clear sense of how fragmented and divisive the society we live under is. The producers of the show did a smart job of picking a diverse group of people cutting across class and gender and also falling on either side of modernity or tradionality. The crux of the episode was that a group albeit small was consistently attempting to break the boundaries/stereotypes drawn by the society while another group firmly believed in sticking to the experiences passed on to them. The host completed the show by stating that changes caused due to peer pressure are better avoided but at the same time one must keep an eye on the growing changes in the world and accept them if required.

Recently I had an opportunity to see a documentary called "Story of India" presented by Michael Woods (We need a westerner to present even our history to be accepted as unbiased, LOL) which did a very good job of taking the viewer along a journey from the early beginnings of Indian Civilization and the progression it has made over centuries to reach the current state.
One theme that was painted very beautifully was that India faces an interesting challenge considering its status as an ancient civilization which is still alive and has started to make the first steps towards a dramatic economic progression filled with pace and steadfastness. How does it grapple with the pride that it holds for the practices and the modernity it strives to enter, the balancing act is going to be one of the most crucial points in determining whether India goes on to become a genuine super power.

The connection between the Talk Show and the documentary is that the underlying message that one section of the country's progress is rapidly leaving the rest of the country high and dry. The massive gap in living standards is stark and is about to get bigger. What we are observing is a clear divide along the monetary lines, the economically progressive start to shed its inhibitions and controls bit by bit while the average depreived Indian watches on solemnly trying hard to associate himself with something to get his life going. Religion,tradition and culture offer the easisest ways for the human mind to obtain that social defence and its nothing new. The traces of which are slowly emerging on the horizon creating bigger differences than ever before.

Kunguma poovum konjum puravum - a melancholy well carved

Movies are of three types, the first where a movie is created for the sake of artistic proportions of different dimensions, the second being where a movie is utilized as a media to transmit a message of social importance and the third being pure no-brainer entertainers. 

When the first and second styles combine to form a gripping tale which can catch the pulse of the mass, the odds are that it cannot be ignored as mere triviality or entertainment. In the recent past we have come across such movies and to name a few Anbe Sivam, Anjathey, Subramaniyapuram, Azhagi. 

Kunguma poovum konjum puravum is a movie that falls under this category, a movie which has a gripping narration and elements of social importance tightly sewn together. At the first viewing it moves the viewer and also asks a series of questions which rock the foundations of our social setup. Its a stark reminder of our times where we have changed a lot on the surface while deep down we hold on to a series of archaic thought processes.

Its a tale of a vibrant and intelligent gal who gets the wrong end of fate time and again challenging her to move on in life. It reminds one of movies  like Chinatown where "hope" never materializes into reality for the protagonist. 

Kudos to the moviemakers for coming up with a gripping narration at a time when commercial movies rake in the moolah. 

Progressiveness of a society - 1

Off late there have been observations from a lot of agencies stating dramatic shifts in our cultural patterns which seemed impossible even 5 yrs ago. But what kind of shifts are they really talking about, are these mere cosmetic drifts in the face of a modern era or emerging fault lines in our culture.  

To be fair we have had one of the richest, ancient and deep rooted cultures that has ever existed on the planet. A civilization which was far ahead of its time in comparision with modern Europe or the Americas and lead the world's progress in the fields of arts, science, mathematics for more than a millenia. It also progressively spawned a tightly knit culture and tradition which still stands tall despite several attempts by foreign invasions and conquests. But as every empire or corporation have their peak and then decline, the Indian civilization also declined steadily over the medival period. Interestingly the practices of the Hindu society had hardly changed course despite the decline ( barring the intelligent retort to Buddhism) and the oppression(invasions) it witnessed until great men like Rajaram Mohan Roy arrived on the scene.  Though some changes occured the system at large continued to function the way it had. The reason why I put across this point is the system that we see today is hardly a reflection of the true(rather original) form of Hinduism that existed during its hey days. Did the elders of the religion reactively knit the religion together with inefficiencies and practices in order to give it an identity in the face of the muslim conquerors and later western invaders.  Frankly the Indian society is a rare polity which has remained truly integral while other societies and civilizations have been washed away with guns, germs and steel (Inca, Mayan,Egyptian just to name a few). 

As few people today realise culture and tradition is never static and always undergoes metamorphosis with time. The sour evidences can be seen on our prime time news coverages and blogs giving a strong cry for sticking to the past in the name of religion and purity. At the same time I dont mean to say every single bit must change (probably it must) but we need to move on with time and needs of today's fast paced world. I find it hard to digest the logic of saving our culture by sticking to archaic practices when the whole premise of a particular practice no longer holds good. Take the recent case of women getting manhandled in a pub in mangalore , lets not get into the argument of whether what the women did were right or not. The growing exposure to western culture has made us assimilate it bit by bit without even being aware of it which is good in a particular way. It needs no Keynes to tell what growth rate India had acheived during the Pre-Berlin wall era and at what rate its growing today after de-regulation, privatisation and globalization. Now its a very hard analogy and comparision to say will de-regulation of a society like ours will result in progressiveness, but logically a culture and society which accepts and welcomes new ideas and accomodates the same will move forward. The key point is whether society sees that engaging itself in meaningful debates can have an impact on its people and through out our history we have had many a men doing that. Using a shroud around its face in the name of culture puts the brakes on progressiveness more than anything else. 

I believe society also behaves in perfect equilibrium where the players of the game should be allowed the freedom to choose the role they want to pick, after a lot of movement the players themselves would find their appropriate places only to be unsettled, unnerved by a new flattener.