CULTURE AND ITS DECLINE ... 1
Art dominates the Hindu mind and, hence, the emphasis on the idol of the God he worships. Science dictates this need, too. But overmuch of emphasis on the photographic part of a post to the exclusion of its thought-content, nay, rejection of it altogether, is the manifestation of a terribly declining intellectual culture of the race as a whole. This may seem to be a sweeping generalisation but is one that merits consideration as well, for such seems to be the prevalent mode of public appreciation of posts. The photo, in all its colour and contour, carries the attention of the observer while the precious gems of thought lie neglected to the detriment of the reader in him.
In the early thirties Bertrand Russell had rued the decline of intellectual standards. At that time there were stalwarts like Einstein, Tagore, Aurobindo, Rolland, Heisenberg, Fermi, Picasso, Shaw, Russell himself and a host of other luminaries who adorned the intellectual firmament of the world. But Russell had, like Vivekananda before him, seen into the tendencies of the times and pronounced his verdict. Swamiji had foretold that, in the ensuing age of the proletariat, there would be a steep fall in culture even as the common man would get better facilities for a decent living. And how true they were we can well see the world over in the realm of politics which is being ruled by semi-educated persons of little intellectual abilities ! That this decadent trend should percolate through all strata to the vast world of men is but natural, given the proliferation of education and the consequent lowering of its standards to accommodate all and sundry within the ambit of knowledge.
But the lowering of culture must be arrested somehow and this is possible only if there is quality control not only in commodities but in education as well. Teachers must be better equipped with researched knowledge which they will lay at the disposal of their students fresh and the students must also be made to go through the hard grind of what may be termed disciplined diligence in pursuit of the acquisition of knowledge. Pampering the child is as bad as not sparing him the rod to instil discipline.
Academic decline apart, there seems to be a general degradation in appreciation of anything that provokes deep thinking. Foppishness is the order of the day as men and women seem to enjoy parading their ignorance in ample terms online more than exhibiting a semblance of refined intellectual culture. This, indeed, is a sad state of affairs as we celebrate our independence, now in its eighth decade.
Capitalism brings in consumerism and the latter leaves in its trail the debris of decimated culture even as it builds the citadels of all that is gross and transitory, the coarse and corrosive culture of the five senses. As the gross pleasures of the senses are made more readily available to the masses, the refined pursuits of higher thinking are relegated to the backroom of neglect. The spotlight is on all that glitters but is not gold.
But who cares? Who would bother to care at any rate when the transitory titillation is on and the ephemeral transports one for the moment into the Disneyland of delight? Why should the common man of coarse culture care about sensibilities that elude him, that he is unaware of, for they have never been his ever? He must ramble in the plains of puerile pastimes and not care a damn to ascend the heights of Himalayan contemplation or any like sibling of it. The mountains are there to climb, not savour ; the rivers are there to ford, not measure the ripples of ; the landscape lies ahead to traverse, not to gauge their contours. Everything that is gross is pleasurable and, so, the gross is the order of consumption of the day.
Written by Sugata Bose
Art dominates the Hindu mind and, hence, the emphasis on the idol of the God he worships. Science dictates this need, too. But overmuch of emphasis on the photographic part of a post to the exclusion of its thought-content, nay, rejection of it altogether, is the manifestation of a terribly declining intellectual culture of the race as a whole. This may seem to be a sweeping generalisation but is one that merits consideration as well, for such seems to be the prevalent mode of public appreciation of posts. The photo, in all its colour and contour, carries the attention of the observer while the precious gems of thought lie neglected to the detriment of the reader in him.
In the early thirties Bertrand Russell had rued the decline of intellectual standards. At that time there were stalwarts like Einstein, Tagore, Aurobindo, Rolland, Heisenberg, Fermi, Picasso, Shaw, Russell himself and a host of other luminaries who adorned the intellectual firmament of the world. But Russell had, like Vivekananda before him, seen into the tendencies of the times and pronounced his verdict. Swamiji had foretold that, in the ensuing age of the proletariat, there would be a steep fall in culture even as the common man would get better facilities for a decent living. And how true they were we can well see the world over in the realm of politics which is being ruled by semi-educated persons of little intellectual abilities ! That this decadent trend should percolate through all strata to the vast world of men is but natural, given the proliferation of education and the consequent lowering of its standards to accommodate all and sundry within the ambit of knowledge.
But the lowering of culture must be arrested somehow and this is possible only if there is quality control not only in commodities but in education as well. Teachers must be better equipped with researched knowledge which they will lay at the disposal of their students fresh and the students must also be made to go through the hard grind of what may be termed disciplined diligence in pursuit of the acquisition of knowledge. Pampering the child is as bad as not sparing him the rod to instil discipline.
Academic decline apart, there seems to be a general degradation in appreciation of anything that provokes deep thinking. Foppishness is the order of the day as men and women seem to enjoy parading their ignorance in ample terms online more than exhibiting a semblance of refined intellectual culture. This, indeed, is a sad state of affairs as we celebrate our independence, now in its eighth decade.
Capitalism brings in consumerism and the latter leaves in its trail the debris of decimated culture even as it builds the citadels of all that is gross and transitory, the coarse and corrosive culture of the five senses. As the gross pleasures of the senses are made more readily available to the masses, the refined pursuits of higher thinking are relegated to the backroom of neglect. The spotlight is on all that glitters but is not gold.
But who cares? Who would bother to care at any rate when the transitory titillation is on and the ephemeral transports one for the moment into the Disneyland of delight? Why should the common man of coarse culture care about sensibilities that elude him, that he is unaware of, for they have never been his ever? He must ramble in the plains of puerile pastimes and not care a damn to ascend the heights of Himalayan contemplation or any like sibling of it. The mountains are there to climb, not savour ; the rivers are there to ford, not measure the ripples of ; the landscape lies ahead to traverse, not to gauge their contours. Everything that is gross is pleasurable and, so, the gross is the order of consumption of the day.
Written by Sugata Bose
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