A Lesson On Indian Culture And Indianness For Americans
· Free Press Journal
It is about time America was schooled in Indian ways and Indianness. The world's most powerful country fares rather badly when it comes to cultures and civilisations cohabiting planet Earth beyond the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea, especially the Indian subcontinent. It is perhaps to remedy this anomaly, and also to introduce Gen Z Indian Americans to Indian culture and history through “immersive technology, virtual reality, interactive exhibits, and multimedia displays”, that the Indian diaspora, led by Indian American educationist Amitabh Sharma, is planning a “first-of-its-kind” India Heritage Centre Museum in Washington, DC.
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Cultural Misunderstandings Persist
Indians have, for long, been at the receiving end for their beliefs and cultural practices. Why, only last year, during his mayoral campaign, Zohran Mamdani was ridiculed by conservative American commentator Vince Dao (of Vietnamese origin) for eating rice with his hands. The incident generated strong reactions in India as well as the US because of the celebrity status attached to Mamdani—he being the son of celebrated filmmaker Mira Nair and academician Mahmood Mamdani. In fact, Dao's scathing comment, “Eating rice with your hands is gross, strange and barbaric”, generated a heated debate on civilisation, cultural practices, and race. For a country that has been around for 250 years, out of which, for the past eight decades, since World War II, it has been at the forefront of world affairs, its understanding of Eastern cultures is surprisingly quite limited.
Western countries tend to have a myopic view of Eastern cultures. They overlook the fact that philosophy plays as big a role in developing cultural practices as geography or religion. The tradition of eating with one's hands is rooted in Ayurveda. The idea behind the practice is to engage all five senses while performing the act.
Need For Greater Awareness
The centre can become an educational resource for young Indian Americans as well as other communities in the US. The West knows India mainly through its movies. Its understanding of Indian culture is highly superficial and is limited to colourful festivals, spicy food, yoga, and the Kamasutra. India is much more than that, of course. It has a history dating back thousands of years, making it one of the earliest civilisations that mapped the world; it has a vast and deep philosophy that is universal in its appeal; and it has a composite culture that shows diversity can coexist, provided there is political will to do so.
A museum showcasing Indian history is a great way to educate the West about the role India has played in shaping world history and the global economy for thousands of years and about its contributions in areas such as mathematics, literature, philosophy, art and architecture, food, and music.
Celebrating Shared Heritage
Moreover, learning about diversity is of prime importance today. For a world that seems to be forever immersed in conflict, coexistence, not a clash of ideas or philosophies, can be the only salvation.