Strange India All Strange Things About India and worldStrange India All Strange Things About India and world


The general concept about culture of any particular group or people comprises their arts and crafts, their manners and customs, their mode of living and their social and political institutions. These, however, are the manifestations of a culture and not a culture itself.

No culture can really be assessed, as to its worth, on the basis of these external trappings, but rather on the spirit which constitute the fundamentals. To understand a culture, therefore, the first essential is to discover its conception of life, and the role it assigns to man in the whole scheme? What is the universe? What is man’s own relationship to it? What should be a man’s approach to the world in utilizing what it has to offer? All these question relate to the basic theory of life, on which, depend all man’s actions, and which therefore, shape his conduct and the culture which he evolves, and any change, in his view of life, results in a basic change in that culture.

The second question, which is closely related to the theory of life. is that of the purpose of life. What ought to be man’s purpose in living? To what end does strive and carry on a struggle throughout His life? What is the ultimate object for which he should strive, the goal he should keep in all his actions and endeavors? It is indeed the goal and ideal for which he strives, which determine the direction and pace of man’s activity, and the means and the methods which he adopts for achieving success in life.

The third question we have to ask in connection with any culture is: What are fundamental beliefs and ideas on which it seeks to build up the character of the nation? What kind of ideas and ideals does it inculcate?

And what are the motivating forces which, in conformity with those ideals, drive man forward in his practical life ?

There can be no two opinions about the fact that man’s action are subordinate to his mental faculties. The impulses bring the voluntary organs into action comes from the brain.

Whatever beliefs and ideals, thoughts and conceptions that dominate his mind, they govern direction to all his actions. The mould in which the mind is cast will produce its own peculiar set of emotions, Sensibilities, and urges, which will in turn govern the use he makes of his physical faculties. It follows, there-fore, that no human subsist unless it has some fundamental beliefs and some basic conceptions of life.

The fourth question is: what kind of mental and moral training does it offer to fit a man for leading a successful life in accordance with its basic ideals.i What are the virtues, the habits of mind and the person qualities which it tries to engender and develop ? And then, what is kind of man that emerges from this special brand of  moral and mental training? Although the mental ultimate purpose of a culture is the building up of a particular social structure, it is the individuals who constitute, and are the component units of a society, and it is important to develop the individuals on the right lines, as it is to ensure, for the strength and durability of a building, that every brick is well placed, every piece of wood free from worms and all the mortar and other material employed  is proper quality and standard.

The fifth and the last question is the pattern of human relationships with in any culture. What kind of relationship does it seek to establish between its members and their families, their neighbours, friends, and other living with them, their subordinates and superiors, and the members of their own society, and also those who are not members. What are the rights of individual over others and theirs over him ? To what extent are their limitations exercise of his rights?

How far is he free in his actions, and how far are they subiect to restraint? In seeking the answer to these questions, we are led in to the questions of morals and social life of a people, their laws, politics and international relations and through the answer to these questions, we learn how the culture under discussion organises the family, the society and the political structure.

The sum up, a culture comprises the following elements viz.

1. Its conception of life itself;

2. Its conception of the purpose of life;

3. Its fundamental beliefs and ideas

4. Its scheme for the mental moral training of it individuals; and

5. Its social oraganizatoin. All the cultures of the world have comprised the above five elements, and the same has been the case with culture of Islam.

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