Day 2 : On Culture

Religion, attire, food, color, caste, language, belief systems, customs, traditions etc all add up to one thing : culture. Culture is so deeply ingrained in every one of us that without it we are incomplete. One cannot imagine life without culture. It is so closely linked with ourselves that, to a certain extent, it gives us a sense of identity and belongingness.

However culture is so diverse that each and every aspect of it is capable of creating rifts and conflicts between individuals. This was the central theme of the session on Tuesday.

The session began with a short film called ‘Cosmopolis” by Paromita Vohra. It depicted, in a nutshell, that even a seemingly trivial thing like food can act as a barrier between people with different tastes. The movie was not only informative but humorous as well.
It showed how educated and ‘sophisticated’ people could use being non-vegetarian as the grounds for discrimination and non-inclusion in their community as is did not fit in with their strong beliefs. There were mainly two characters in the film- the goddess of food and the goddess of wealth who were sisters. The fact that they were constantly criticizing and bad mouthing each other sends a strong message across.

Following the movie was a discussion on the same. The film was unanimously enjoyed by all. Quite soon the discussion turned to one of the most pertinent issues facing the world today: religion. There were some heated discussions on the ‘peacefulness’ of religions. It was then agreed to by everyone that all religions preach peace and brotherhood; however, it is the people who cause conflicts in the name of religion. Economic gain is the sole purpose of this violence.

There was an interesting argument on why people seek homogeneity and not heterogeneity. Most felt that a homogeneous group is secure and stable while heterogeneity might not be as comfortable a situation. It was argued that homogeneity curbs creativity and individuality. Heterogeneity gives one a chance to explore the unknown.

Rakesh informed us that multiculturalism began in the UK and initiated words like ‘pluralism’, ‘in-group’ and ‘out-group’ into the discussion. Every individual considers the group he or she belongs to as the in-group and people who are not included in the group is the out-group. These terms are subjective to every individual.

An interesting interaction on the present generation being more open to change ensued. This is the result of us being exposed to the constantly changing technology and education that helps us in understanding the working of gizmos and gadgets.

We ended the session with an activity that tested our geography and general knowledge. We were asked to draw out the outline of the map of India with chalk on the floor. Then we had to stand on the approximate place on the map where we were born. Then each one of us had to announce the food, clothing and festivals celebrated special to that place. We were supposed to be the place itself and had to send a message to the rest of the country on behalf of that place. It was interesting to note that the group was so diverse that we had someone coming from Kashmir right down to someone from Kerala. Then we were asked to stand on the place that we are currently studying in and of course all of us landed up in Pune. We again had to state the same things that we were asked to earlier; only this time we were ourselves and not Pune itself. It showed us that although we live in Pune we deviate from the culture and form smaller sub-cultures, which are quite different from the dominant culture of Pune.

The session was the perfect mix of fun and knowledge. It helped us think about the complexity and importance of culture.

- Aditi S