MAN AND HIS MISSION ... 16

MAN AND HIS MISSION ... 16

In 1932 Bertrand Russell talked of the decline of culture. It is 88 years since then and culture has, indeed, precipitously declined. The explosion of population has naturally brought in concomitant cultural changes with its standard ever on the decline.

The poor and the ones devoid of refined culture earlier have now got a semblance of education and are aspirants to what they thus far lacked. But education is one and culture another. The gulf between them is immense. This new aspiration, although welcome from the perspective of mass human evolution, is threatening the continuity of classical culture. Popular movements in culture are going to benefit the masses, true, but the highest art forms are likely to undergo unwholesome changes which may even pass the critical point of a cultural no-return. That would be suicidal for civilisation. It is here that the art forms need proper patronage and the needed nurturing. The masters must be patronised so that they can concentrate on their craft and not give them up in pursuit of the gross means of organic survival.

Where lies the future? Is it bright or is the death of civilisation in all its refinement a settled fact as mass culture invades its space? Can classical and crass culture co-exist? What are our obligations towards preserving and promoting our classical art forms for the flourishing of future civilisation? Is it a case of a cultural no-return or can we reverse this decadent trend? I leave you to ponder these questions as I take your leave.

Written by Sugata Bose

Photo : Sangeetacharya Ajoy Sinha Roy with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

[ Statutory warning : cigarette smoking is injurious to health. ]

20Deepanjan Mitra, Riya Bhattacharya and 18 others

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