Kipling Once stated, “East is east and West is west and never shall twain meet. “He was right. There are some fine point of difference between the Eastern and the western cultures. There are two different styles of living. Both have their shortcomings and advantages. Let us analyze.
Eastern culture is prevalent in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Indonesia, Burma, Japan, Srilanka, Middle-east and most of the Asian nations. Western culture is accepted in the U.S.A, the U.K entire Europe, Thailand Singapore and the nations of the orient. Eastern culture is family oriented. It believes in the societal norms. It is based on religion (Hinduism, Islam, Jainism and Buddhism). It calls for respecting and thanking the Almighty for all the blessings it has showered on us. It believes in setting for less when less is available. Marriage, religious ceremonies, business and social interactions are guided by our culture and religions. The materialistic values take a backseat in Eastern culture.
The Western Culture is individual oriented. The needs, rights and privileges of the individual are of utmost significance. Man has learned to master the forces of nature under Western cultural influence. Western culture is materialistic. It is not satisfied with whatever has been gained by the individual. There is always lust for more and more. The mind therefore, remains unstable and shaken. The Western influences make the person more logical, calculative and rational. He forgets his taboos and useless pre-conceived notions which are normally associated with Eastern culture. The Western culture also emphasizes upon hard and toil. It calls for incessant quest for knowledge. It is based on scientific and materialistic notations.
What should we adopt from Western Culture? Naturally, we should assimilate only the plus points from that culture which are suitable for us and can be accepted by our masses easily.
Let us take an example. In the Eastern societies, dating would mean that a boy and a girl would meet each other and would try to understand each other. They would remain friends without any physical interaction. They would meet most probably to plan their life together but that may not always be necessary. However, in Western parlance, dating would mean that a boy and a girl share physical intimacy. They would remain man and wife without marriage. After some time, they could part company and could find a new friend for each other. There attitude towards love, sex and marriage is not acceptable in Eastern culture.
Let us take another example. The Eastern culture proposes that whatever would be, would be. We should work hard. And here lies the point. We do not work hard at all because we know that whatever karma we do. we are not going to gain much. The Western society opines that we should work hard and hard work never goes waste. So, we should accept this plus point from Western culture and should not shirk work. We must pray to God; however we must keep on pushing our boat towards the shore.
These two examples give ample evidence about the points for our adoption. We must accept whatever is rational, logical and truthful in Western culture. Our Quran, Upanishads, Vedas and other holy scriptures have also emphasized upon the value of Satya and Karma.
We should adopt meticulous behavior, technical aptitude and swiftness from the Western culture. We should learn to carry out tasks efficiently. We should strive to change our society for good. We must eliminate poverty, bureaucratic procedures, corruption, religious influences in daily life and inefficiency from our culture. These anomalies are not present in their culture and that is why they are ahead of us.
True, we should not adopt decline in moral values, doing away with family norms, high speed operations in all walks of life and business and too much of materialism. Our culture has not been able to accept these influences well and as a result, our society is becoming sick. If we do not check this degradation, our society would also fall prey to mental sickness and physical disabilities due to ill effects of Western culture.
It is the opinion of the great philosophers that a simple life without much ambitions is worth living and enjoying. Eastern culture prohibits any ambitions (or it does not support the ambitious behavior). In Western culture, however, growth is the only sign of life. We should adopt delicate balances between the two. We must have ambitions but these ambitions should always be within our physical, mental and financial limits. We must not push our sities too far and suffer and account of our ambitions. The Western culture promotes cios and even violence for the sake of achieving one’s ambition.
Further, Western culture teaches us to be more pragmatic, meticulous and calculative. We must adopt these features as the technological growth around the world has made its global impact on the mankind. We cannot remain immune to the growth of mankind in all the fields. We must keep in tune with tomorrow. Hence, being meticulous, calculative and business-like is not harmful. However, we should not forget the human values which are sometimes skillfully ignored by the Western culture for the sake of money, power or fame.
Finally, we must accept the efficient educational system of the west. It teaches us to be more knowledgeable and practical. It prepares us for life. We must utilize and accept new engineering skills, technologies and medical research results as well as scientific discoveries for he development and prosperity of our masses. For example, a firm in the USA has developed an inhaler which releases a fixed amount of insulin in the lunges of a diabetic patient. The patient no longer needs painful injections of insulin. This technique must be adopted by our medical institutions with immediate effect as it is for the benefit of mankind.
Like a swan, we must pick all the pearls of the western culture and should assimilate them in our social and cultural environments for the sake of a better society and nation.
(Siba Brata Chakra Borty)
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