Clash of Cultures

The various cultures that exist within India today -- the media culture, the call center culture, the software industry culture, old economy culture, classical culture and all the rest, which will win the day. What will be the future culture -- the culture that emerges out of the amalgamation of all this?

I look around me and I feel we are growing up in cultural silos. Each unit, I feel, is so cocooned in its own ways they seem far removed from all the other units around them. Well, there is exposure to the traditional culture. Can’t escape that. I don’t think any of us can even if we try. There are vested interests at work there to ensure this remains so. But unfortunately more often than not these parties are bent on promoting a skewed notion of right and wrong.

In the present scenario, I think, there is very little communication between members of different culture. None are interested in building bridges to connect two disparate silos. The common refrain seems to be – we are leading the better lives so the rest of the world better follow us. The media could have been that factor. But then media comprises similar lost cases. The common sentiment among members of this community seems to be "there’s none on the planet more cultured or knowledgeable than us; so why should we bother with the rest of the janta".

I wish this were true. But when I used to attend press conferences and look around I used to often feel “what am I doing here?” I expected serious discussions and ideation; strategies to improve society or at least an attempt to do so; a serious editorial stance to influence the way society thinks and acts; articles and columns to push this agenda for the betterment of society.

Well the media today is influencing society—go around coffee shops, clubs or bars or any other common meeting place; eavesdrop on conversations in trains or buses and you will find the conversations revolving around the hot news promoted by newspapers and televisions -- the doings and escapades of our film stars and television stars. I think the print is slightly better. Not all of them have gone so rotten. But then the option is between selecting the better from among the worst.

Coming back to culture - be it the music we listen to or books we read, the way we spend our leisure hours, or our ideas about various issues if you look at the various silos then you would find a common refrain within those silos. Of course exceptions are there. But over a period of time each individual within a silo gets molded to fit that particular culture. Else you can’t be a part of the scene.

So the people you work with are also generally your friends, your shopping partners, your dinner and lunch partners on weekends, your movie and clubbing partners and so on…

I think the displacement of people from their regions of origin or birth has a major role to play. It existed earlier. But it is more so today. And unlike earlier, Bombay or Delhi or couple of other prosperous cities are no longer the only destinations. Several new cities have now come up in the radar of the job seekers. So existing, even deep rooted, values and cultures are being shaken or being trampled upon. And new whimsical, superfluous ones are being created.

I have heard several theories about who would win the day – the older sections think they have been here they will continue being there while the “new fangled” ones perish. Proponents of the “new way of doing things” feel this is the only way going forward. And there are some who think both will co-exist in new ways; each changing to adjust with the other. Things are going to change. If not now then sometime down the line there is bound to be a shakeup. There might even be a clash. There’s so much stress in the air, God alone knows what shape this will take. What is of interest to me is, however, what form will the new culture take post shakeup?