Modernization and westernization are not synonymous

Westrenization and Modernization2Westernization is nothing but embracing the culture, ideas, lifestyle, values and guiding principles of the west by communities from other geographical locations.

But, isn’t it all within? Moody’s has lately upgraded India’s sovereign rating outlook to ‘Positive’, which previously stood at ‘Stable’. The reason cited by the rating agency was perceptive and constructive measures taken by the Narendra Modi-led government in past months, and same factors are to attract more and more foreign fund inflows to India. Let’s now dig some soil and pull out facts about economic richness of the country as embraced in the history of this world. Indus Valley Civilization is said to have initiated the economic history of our country, then by the Maurya Empire, followed by classical civilizations of Rashtrakutas and Western Gangas, and it was during this phase that we had the largest economy in the world up until the 17th century and the rise of the Maratha Empire. The accounts of historical facts approve that India was the richest economy in the world and our dominance was led by the personal shrewdness of rulers and traders, political unity and unbroken security.

Why I have cited these details and will quote a few more is for the reason that we are, more or less, scrutinized basis the global parameters, ranging from contribution towards world’s GDP growth rate to sentiments of investors towards us, and a minute elevation of us in these ratings makes us feel assured, relaxed. Have we turned so global that in case we are termed as one of the most promising emerging countries of the world, we tend to forget our opulent past, the caliber of our forefathers and the way they made not only India develop, but the global trade until the 1700 AD depended substantially on South Asia’s master, India? In no way can this discussion lead to or justify complete self-dependence for the purpose of attainment of goals ranging from wider employment prospects for the youth and prosperity of agriculturists to empowerment of women and education for all. But ‘dependence’ cannot be a thorough and unanalyzed adaptation of western socio-economic and political concepts and philosophies; rather it is just getting what we are deficient in, for say nuclear arsenal from France and Canada, and evolving ways for making India a flag-bearer in the contest of universal development.

Now when the current PM has linked development with environment, it is crucial to see when we would unlink development and westernization. Sensible appraisal of the past will be the key to initiate the revolution for India’s true social and economic growth. The decline in Indian industry was much palpable during the colonial period, the time, when in the 19th century much of the world was undergoing industrialization, but India lagged behind. Technological innovation was the basis of the lead that European nations were able to take; India being an agriculture-dependent and a low wage country trailed. The turning points, however, came when entrepreneurs like Jamsetji Tata, a visionary who setup TISCO with tactical arrangement with the British that any surplus production will be procured by Britain, paved way for technical skill enhancement and adequate pays to industrial laborers. Today, if we stay restricted to just the western paradigm or the feat of Bill Gates or theories of communism by Karl Marx, we might not prudently judge the needs of the Indian socio-economic and political spheres, also, we may invite long-term damages in desire of short-term advancement on the global parameters of growth.

Call it ‘Bhartiyata’, ‘Hinduism’ or anything else; the bottom line is that the brains, arms and hearts of India are capable enough to take the country to new echelons of success without relying on the notion of blind westernization, rather by inventing novel concepts and making resourceful use of our assets, tangible as well as intangible. So if today, we assess the development of our women as per the benchmarks set by EU countries or the U.S., or we measure the level of climate change in accordance with the limits set by the WHO, and find ourselves as progressive, the tasks remain half-done. Where are the national parameters that in my view can even be harsher than the global ones, but they would carry and remind us of the rich past that was able to cater to the demands of the Indians; we have, however, failed to deliver these since decades owing to our political and communal weaknesses? Shouldn’t we crave for deep analysis of the commerce and technology world-over, absorb the pros, yet for the real betterment of our craftsmen and small-scale businessmen, discover and revive our old but tested methodologies so that wage earners do not lose jobs, available entrepreneurship is fully utilized, and the center of production be cottages, farmlands and homes, not mere factories.

On one hand is the model of the west, where consumption and value of commodities determine progress of economy, while on the other was Indian theory of contentment. There is no harm in studying the pluses of the west and procuring resources that aren’t easily available within the borders. New alliances, pacts and consensus must be a part of the foreign policy of the government; along with, however, the hidden Indian pluses and apparent minuses are to be worked out. In the wake of human rights, activists of the west placed humans above all, above the remaining living beings, but the principles of ancient as well as modern India differ, on basis that cows here are considered divine and though humans are to be cared about the most, this cannot be on the cost of other creatures, an example set by the Maharashtra government which recently banned beef consumption. What good are human rights if they supersede core human ‘values’ like love, help and sympathy? What good could be throat-cut competition, self-concentrated pricing policies, sub-standard production, and use of muscle-power and caste-equations in winning over an election?

Believe it, by the grace of the Almighty, we have all the resources that add to build a developed nation. Manpower, capital and acumen, we aren’t lacking in any of these. In fact, lacking is the national pledge, pledge to use unity and uprightness as the drivers of our growth and supremacy. Today, the socialism and communism as advocated by minds like Karl Marx and Joseph Stalin, and adopted as a philosophy by many countries, has lost its essence in the dust-storm of corruption and self-centeredness. To regain the title of being the richest country, we are to exploit core Indian values and philosophies. A philosopher, teacher and strategist, Chanakya authored Arthasastra and is credited as the mind who played the most pivotal role in the establishing of the Maurya empire; a lawyer, freedom fighter, and social and political activist, Mahatma Gandhi who stands tall in London’s Parliament Square; Mother Teresa; Dr. Abdul Kalam; Vinoba Bhave; J R D Tata, and a few of those names that are evidences of our aptitude; I hope that the government would turn today’s youth in the similar direction, and the blind motive of westernization will be superseded by intellect endeavors and exploitation of indigenous resources.

India’s intellects’ obsession of the west finds its evidence in why the man who laid the foundation of political integration of India, Sardar Patel, is compared to Otto Bismarck, the man who united Germany in 1860s; the irony is that Shakespeare was and is never termed as Kalidasa of the Great Britain, or Napoleon as Samudragupta, the military genius, of Europe. Let me very clearly and fearlessly advocate adopting of Indian values and richness as guiding principles for our future actions, in contrary to blind following of the west. ‘Development, Modernization and Westernization can never be synonymous.’

94 thoughts on “Modernization and westernization are not synonymous

  1. Barun Sharma

    I love to read your articles. They are so much interesting and full of information. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    Reply
  2. Rahul

    Indian history is full of not just richness but also sacrifices.
    I am sure that if we look at the lives of Rani Laxmi Bai, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi and Shaheed Bhagat Singh there is no need of copying the west.

    Reply
  3. amir bhargava

    Sir only Indians knoe the true meaning of socialism and secularism, no other nation in this world is so much tolerant.
    Muslims in India by 2050 will become world’s largest Muslim community.

    Reply
  4. Ashish

    Thank you for the introduction to the new website. I will be re-visiting it many times, but on a fast run-through it looks really great.

    Reply
  5. naveen aggarwal

    You can also write about the works of Asoka the Great and Aryabhatta.
    Asoka was so humble and pro-poor that he still todays remains an example to be followed by Indian politicians even world leaders.

    Reply
  6. A.K. Malhotra

    you are very intelligent. You already know the significance in the case of this matter. You post consider numerous angles of information. Your own stuff is excellent.

    Reply
  7. Peter

    Hello there! This blog post could not be written much better! Going through this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He constantly kept talking about this. I will send this information to him. Fairly certain he will have a very good read. I appreciate you for sharing!

    Reply
  8. ajit sharma

    Feminism, social equality, equal distribution of income were all part of our past.
    There is no sense in applying foreign laws, rather we should re-live the Indian legacy.
    We salute those great men.

    Reply
  9. hemlata trehan

    You have ignited the fire of nationalism in all the readers. Culture and values of India are to be preserved not suppressed. Western culture has no place in India.

    Reply
  10. N.naga

    Another work to endorse Hindutva.
    You say that only Hindus were the one who framed the world.
    Sir you forgot to mention Mughal ruler Akbar and contributions of Muslims in India’s independence.
    This is biased and pro-Hinduism.

    Reply
  11. Megh

    Hi there, yeah this post is genuinely nice and I have learned lot of things from it on the topic of blogging. thanks.

    Reply
  12. sushil gupta

    Criticising works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Stalin is not Hinduism.
    Hinduism is learning from all but devising ways that are good as per Indian standards and socio-political environment.

    Reply
  13. sushmita bhalla

    The latest example of this is hundreds of foreign channels on our TV and wide viewers, and the video of Deepika Padukone on women empowerment.
    Sensible leaders like Modi and Amit Shah are doing as much as they can to build a vibrant India.

    Reply
  14. nagraj

    Government of India has a Millennium Devlopment Goals (MDG) objective.
    If we revive our ancient opulence, there is no hurdle that can prevent us from achieving the objectives.

    Reply
  15. rakesh

    See the fact is that there is nothing wrong in adopting general universal guiding principles in our country but favouring only western concepts is indeed a wrong practice and can be avoided in excessive situations.

    Reply
  16. Ranjit

    I appreciate you finding the time and effort to put this information together.
    I once again find myself personally spending a significant amount of time both reading and commenting.

    Reply
  17. Ram Narayan

    Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you penning this write-up and the rest of the site is also very good.

    Reply
  18. Akash

    You definitely realize how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people should read this and understand this side of your story.

    Reply
  19. Saiyam

    Greetings! Very useful advice in this particular post! It is the little changes which will make the most important changes.Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  20. Mike

    This excellent website really has all the info I wanted concerning this subject and didn’t know who to ask.

    Reply
  21. Priyanshu

    Hello my friend! I wish to say that this article is awesome, nice written and include almost all important infos. I would like to peer extra posts like this .

    Reply
  22. Pradeep Gupta

    I just want to mention I am all new to weblog and truly savored this blog site.
    Likely I’m want to bookmark your blog .
    You actually have terrific articles.
    With thanks for sharing with us your web site.

    Reply
  23. Manish Khurana

    I blog often and I genuinely appreciate your content.  This article has really peaked my interest.

    Reply
  24. Akshay

    Hello there, You have done an incredible job. I will certainly digg it and personally suggest to my friends.

    Reply
  25. Kuldeep

    I am highly impressed with the think tank that you possess. I wonder how 1 man can have so much of knowledge

    Reply
  26. Amresh

    Hello, I am so happy I found your weblog. I am really appreciating the commitment you put into your site and in depth information you offer. This has been so particularly generous with people like you to supply openly all that most of us would have offered for sale for an e book in order to make some dough on their own, even more so seeing that you could possibly have tried it if you ever decided.

    Reply
  27. Umang Kant

    Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you writing this post plus the rest of the website is really good.

    Reply
  28. Mihir

    Very great post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I have really loved browsing your weblog posts. In any case I will be subscribing on your rss feed and I hope you write once more very soon!

    Reply
  29. Nino

    Hi there everyone, It is my first go to see at this site, and piece of writing is genuinely fruitful in favor of me, keep up posting these types of content.

    Reply
  30. TarunKansal

    Hi there to all, how is the whole thing, I think every one is getting more from this web site, and your views are pleasant designed for new users.

    Reply
  31. Kavita

    Congratulations Dr Gupta in the setting up of your attractive, informative and very professional website. Well done!

    Reply
  32. Alok

    Good day! I just would like to give you a big thumbs up for your excellent information you have right here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.

    Reply
  33. K.V. Bhalla

    I was inspired by reading your thoughts. And I shall surely be coming back soon to see more of your work.

    Reply
  34. Biswadip

    The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesn’t fail me as much as this one. After all, I know it was my choice to read, nonetheless I actually thought you would probably have something helpful to talk about. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could fix if you weren’t too busy seeking attention.

    Reply
  35. Anshul

    I wish to say that this article is amazing, nice written and come with approximately all important infos. I would like to see more posts like this .

    Reply
  36. H.S. Sharma

    Everyone loves it when individuals come together and share ideas. Great site, continue the good work!

    Reply
  37. Harshdeep

    You seem to be blessed with a perfect blend of good vocabulary and good writing. Thoroughly admired your work.

    Reply
  38. Ashok Saini

    The website is bright, clean, quick, easily navigable and all the links seem to work well. Moreover, the contents here in blog shape is really wonderful.

    Reply
  39. Prabir Kumar

    Fantastic put up, very informative. I wonder why the opposite experts of this sector do not understand this. You must continue your writing. I am confident, You have a huge readers base already!

    Reply
  40. Kusum

    Good day! I am certainly happy I discovered it and I will be book-marking it and checking back frequently!

    Reply
  41. B.K. Chawla

    Hi there to every one, It is in fact a fastidious for me to go to see this website, it includes important Information.

    Reply
  42. Pratima

    Hi there to every one, since I am really eager of reading this weblog post to be updated daily. It contains fastidious stuff.

    Reply
  43. Sunil

    Hi, I do believe this is an excellent web site. I stumbledupon it 😉 Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to help others.

    Reply
  44. K.K. Mahajan

    I am sure this piece of writing has touched all the internet viewers, its really really pleasant article on building up new weblog.

    Reply
  45. Krishan

    What a simplest and purest form of reflecting your views on such a difficult topic. Great going.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Pratima Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *