The influence of western culture on Indian society

By

Semon Swaraj

India is a secular country where people have the freedom to practice any religion and even convert to another religion of their choice.

Every culture is a combination of some good and bad features. People of different nations are recognized by their culture. And it is the responsibility of all citizens to preserves their own culture.

Indian culture is known throughout the world and is unique in its own way, the most important thing being the value which has been rooted since ancient times. The influence of western culture however started in India after the coming of the British. Western culture is the most advanced culture all over the world, and has also influenced Indian society, its impact so great that many people have changed their values and ideas, making them so much more advanced.

Westernization should not affect society but may change its style and characteristics. Western cultures are based on materialistic factors and because of that it has even influenced our country. The youth in India do not like the lifestyle given by their parents so that they can understand the values of their own culture. The west have influenced so much that it has even changed the language of people, people have stopped speaking  their own language and talk in English. Even the way people dress up before has changed; they have converted their style according to the western people. Their beliefs have also been affected as celebrating and spreading their own culture, people nowadays feels is a waste of time.

But the western lifestyle has more affected the youth of our country, it is so influenced by the ideology of the west and always tries to follow their way of living life. But it is not the mistake of the youth that they are so attracted to those cultures; society has adopted it so much without thinking its effects to the mind of people. So now, to decrease the influence of the west in our society, it is the duty of the people to give more importance to their own culture and tradition which is vanishing day by day.

As it is said that all cultures have both negative and positive sides, western culture also has its positive in that there is equality of gender, they do not discriminate on the base of girls or boys and even homosexual people are accepted in their society. But it is totally the opposite in India as it is a male dominated country and there is discrimination faced by the girls and homosexuals. Today everyone is so attracted to the west and their culture but Indian society has still not changed the way they think towards females and accepting them in their own society, where girls are to be worshipped, but on the other hand are being burnt and being killed before birth. Even if they claim to be educated, only the culture and lifestyle is accepted but not the thought that everyone should be treated equally leaving behind the thinking of which gender it belongs to, but be treated only on the grounds of being human.

Beside all the shallowness in India there are a small number of people who are fighting against the right of equal treatment with girls in society. There is also the other side of the same society which has changed itself with the coming of western culture, the north eastern part of India which also has to face the problems of being accepted by the northern Indians. One of the states of the north east is Maghglaya, which has adopted western culture for the tribes that live there; Khasi, Garo and Jaintia. Their official language is English and they follow the religion of Christianity, their attitude towards girls is totally different from the north. It follows the matrilineal system were the lineage and inheritance are traced through women; the youngest daughter inherits all the wealth and has to look after the parents. On the other hand where people live in high society and claim to be the most educated, they try their best to act as those from the west but only change their dress and lifestyle but did not work on their thought, which is why they misbehave with girls, even killing a girl child before birth.

Being in India, where the people are negating their culture as they are so influenced by the west and whenever questioned for such behaviour and ignoring their own culture, the people claim that no such thing is happening. But the truth is that societies have taken only the lifestyle of the west and even followed it, but they could not handle this when the girls also tried to do so. Whenever girls also follow the same thing, which has become the nature of the whole society, it is not accepted and the people start to question the character of the girl and the way she dresses or behaves in society. When the same thing is done by the male it is never questioned, just because he is a man and has the freedom to do whatever he likes. This is mostly being faced in the northern part of the country, where the people show that they have adapted to the west but really have only accepted the style, not their thinking and the ways they behave, but at the same time think as the ancient people have and want this only to apply one way.

It is high time however that everyone against this practice comes together and fights it; there are many who will come forward with a helping hand but have the same mentality saying they want the same, which is not the way they think but is how society thinks. So leaving those types of people behind, who only act like they have moved with the times but in reality haven’t, one should change the thinking towards the girls in society, allowing them also everything which is granted to the males in this society.

We have to move on from this narrow minded thinking that there is a difference between genders and instead give equal treatment to girls and boys, giving respect to those who are homosexual also. Everyone expects change to come but change does not have its legs and hands, somthing that comes on its own, but the only way change will come is by altering the way we think. No one should wait for the change to come, but be the change itself.

Semon Swaraj

I am a journalism student and did my schooling in Shillong (Maghalaya). I am from the arts side and the reason I am in Teerthanker Mahaveer University (College of Journalism and Mass Communication) is because every time I am on the road, in the air or on a train, all I see around me is adventure. People call life a journey, I love to travel this journey and here I step forward as a traveller. As for hobbies I like singing and writing and am nothing but a passionate learner who believes in being educated from a minor or major and also wants to be a person who I am in reality.