There is an umbilical
relationship between language and culture.
Language is one of the most visible or tangible expressions of
culture. That’s why the language of the
dominant culture gains ascendancy in the world.
English is the world’s lingua
franca today because of two reasons primarily.
One, it was the language of the dominant coloniser. Wherever the coloniser went, his language too
went. If the French had more colonies
than Great Britain, French would have been today’s global language. Two, the dominance of Western culture,
particularly science and technology which revolutionised the 20th
century world.
In 21st century,
people seem to be getting sated with technology. Science was never a common man’s cup of tea,
let alone a more invigorating drink. The
21st century is facing a vacuum because of the lack of that
invigorating drink, the kind that spiritual gurus spoke about time and
again. India has a chance to fill the
vacuum.
If India can fill the vacuum,
its language will become a dominant language of the world.
But does India have anything
wonderful to offer to the world? Our
Prime Minister tried to highlight yoga.
But yoga is nothing new. Perhaps
we should learn to introduce it in a new bottle. We have multi-talented gurus
like Baba Ramdev who excel in spirituality, business and politics
simultaneously. Maybe, these New Age
gurus are the future of India.
Are they? One simple truth is that nobody can fool too
many people for a very long period.
There are already dozens of cases of mala fide practices against
Ramdev. Nothing about him seems to be
genuine. In politics, he sought to
survive by breeding hatred among people.
Thus he was no better than the ordinary run of politicians. He is no better than the ordinary businessman
either, it seems, as far as ethics is concerned. What’s left is his spirituality. Will anyone trust it once his fraudulence looms
so large in the other areas?
I think why India fails to
make any mark in the global arena is precisely because of the fraudulence that
runs deep in our veins. Fraudulence
seems to be an integral part of our culture.
Even if God comes personally and grants us everything we want, we will
still find ways of swindling others.
This is the reason why India lags
behind in spite of the infinite potential it has. Hence its predominant language, Hindi, is not
likely to make any mark in the global amphitheatre.
The rise in the number of
religious cults and practices is an indication of what the world is questing after. There are a lot of Indian gurus raking in the
moolah too marketing spirituality. But
like the Chinese products which flooded the markets by virtue of being cheap,
Indian spirituality too floundered.
Cheap things are destined to die soon.
आपके विचार अत्यंत रोचक एवं विचारणीय हैं , आपका आभार व्यक्त करता हूँ। "एकलव्य"
ReplyDeleteSir,
ReplyDeleteAgreed, there are "dozens of cases of mala fide practices against Ramdev", but most of them are yet to be proven true. They seem to be highlighted by an Indian, foreign funded political party which is rapidly losing its public base, and hence the desperation to malign Ramdev.
I agree that "Fraudulence" runs deep in our veins and we must take some action to correct it. It seems the future is not that grim. A lot of people's mentality has changed recently, and people are trying to inculcate integrity in their daily lives. That’s a good sign.
Thank you for sharing.