Traditions

Traditions are not sacrosanct. As time changes, as our understanding of the universe improves, as civilization grows, traditions may have to change. Many traditions have changed. For example, we got rid of the tradition of burning the widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands. Different states in India had various traditional measures to stigmatise the lower caste or untouchable people. Most of these traditions have vanished though some linger on in certain places.

The less there is to justify a tradition, the harder it is to get rid of it, said Mark Twain. Tradition, more often than not, is an excuse to avoid thinking. Human civilisation would have remained in its primitive stages if everyone had remained stuck to traditions.

Good traditions should be preserved, of course. What is good, however? One may argue that whatever is associated with religion is good. Is it? Don’t forget that religious traditions have been responsible for much of the exploitation of certain sections of people. Religions have killed large numbers of people in the name of some tradition or the other. There are communities in India even today which dedicate some of their girl children to prostitution in the name of Devadasi tradition.

What is ‘good’ then when it comes to tradition? Any tradition that promotes the welfare of the individual and the community may be regarded as good provided that does not at the same time prove to be harmful to some other individuals or communities.  Respecting elders even with certain physical gestures has been a good tradition followed in India.

Those traditions which do no good to people in general should be discarded even if they have some religious roots.  Those which promote the welfare of people should be preserved and reinforced. Following traditions blindly just because they are traditions is quite silly. As G.K. Chesterton says, “Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.” Why not be alive and kicking?