GLOBALIZING INDIAN SOCIETY : MYTH OR REALITY

Aditya, a software engineer by profession, went abroad to pursue a master’s degree in computer science 3 years ago. He plans to settle in the U.S. along with his parents in the next few months as he believes that this would improve their standard of living. On the other hand, his college friend, Sanya, who was a star student in her school and college, plans to get married in the next few months. She might have to quit her job after marriage but she is obliged to her parents’ demand.

There are many Adityas and Sanyas in our country. Many people cross domestic boundaries every year, and many ideas flow into our country every year. But are we truly ‘Globalizing’? Which value of our society allows Aditya to settle abroad and Sanya to ‘settle’ with marriage? Is this process of exchange of ideas and people really globalizing the society? And first and foremost, is this process new or old?

In this essay, we shall try to find quad answers to these questions. We shall see in what respect Globalizing Indian society is a reality and in what respect it is a myth. But before that, we shall look at our past.

The trading relations of the Indus Valley civilization with Mesopotamia and the advent of Aryans from the North and the establishment of Mahajanapads, Delhi Sultanate, Mughal Empire, and British colonial rule are some of the examples of Globalizing Indian society. Many people came to India, and along with them came ideas like Sabha and Semite, sulh-i-kul, parliamentary system, and so on. These ideas changed the way our society was living, some for the better while some for worse. The better ones were in the form of abolition of caste system, Indian Renaissance, etc., while the worse ones were in the form of communalism, oppression, inequality, and so on, especially during the British Era. Hence, Globalizing Indian society is not a new thing but a process started long ago. In this, there was reality in the form of ideas of reason, scientific temper, while myth in the form of reactionary and conservative elements.

After independence from British colonial rule, Indian society was somewhat closed with respect to the economy but was open to ideas, love & compassion. At that time, ideas of Panchsheel, asylum to Dalai Lama changed the way we treat Tibetan refugees. There is love and compassion.

Later on, even the economy was opened through LPG reforms of the 1990s, and it changed the way we see the world and the world sees us. The inflow of ideas and people and outflow of them started a Globalizing Indian society for real.

Advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) became a reality for Indian society post-LPG reforms. Consequently, today we are building the ‘Param’ series of supercomputers. Our IT professionals like Aditya have a huge demand in the foreign market. It appears Indian society is truly globalizing.

Not only this, due to regular visits by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to India and Indian residents to other countries, the way we dress, eat, drink, talk, walk, dance, run or sing – everything has undergone a change. Today, we prefer to dress according to occasions like jeans for casual meets and sarees or business suits for formal meets. Jeans is perceived as non-Indian and sarees as truly Indian. Hasn’t society changed for real?

Similarly, this exchange of ideas and people is furthered by tourism – medical, ecological, religious, spiritual, and so on. In fact, the Indian Government is trying to promote it through the Buddhist circuit, heritage circuit, coastal circuit, desert circuit, Krishna circuit, and so on. Who knew that the process of globalization could promote culture, well-being, and revenue growth in this way?

While we talk about culture, one cannot forget the recent International Yoga Day. Even the world has recognized the values Indian society holds. Consequently, our participation in International Yoga Day is increasing year-by-year. Indian society has left a mark on the globe. Moreover, we are being represented and respected in global forums like the United Nations, Security Council, and so on.

It is not only that we have gone outside and are present across the globe everywhere. But we have also adopted many international practices too like we earlier discussed about dress, dance, and dialogue. In fact, democratic values of liberty, equality justice have been refined through outside Indian movements like French Revolution. But they are reflected in our Indian society. Doesn’t this show that Globalizing Indian Society is a reality?

Perhaps not completely! There are subtle signs of it being a myth. We are seeing caste discrimination since ages and it is still seen today. One cannot forget the mob lynching events such as in Maharashtra targeted on Dalits or suicide of a doctor on caste grounds.

Moreover, can we ignore the subjugation of women which nobody knows when began and when it will end? In fact, labor force participation of women has declined as per International Labor Organization (ILO) report. Disheartening is that it is even lower in so-called urban areas. Can we compare Indian society with societies of the globe?

Women are deprived in health, education, reproduction rights inside the house, outside the house everywhere. Isn’t Globalizing Indian society a myth?

And what about the health and education sector? India is among the worst performers in Nutrition Report. On the other hand, we performed poorly in Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 and have not competed after that with countries of the globe. And what about moral education? Aren’t our society including parents and teachers focusing on rote learning? Our sole aim is that our child should get a job if not inside India then outside India. It appears Indian Globalizing society is a myth.

For that, we need to start from an individual level. Every individual should try to be a good citizen and a good human being.

For this, one has to be truthful with whatever one does. A teacher has to be a good teacher; a parent has to be a good parent; a student has to be a good student and so on. We should not forget two values of REASON, SCIENTIFIC TEMPER, and EMOTION.

These learned individuals can make our Indian society a learned society as they are very constituents of it. Whether we are outside India or inside India, India should always be inside us. When we learn from others we should rationalize whether it is worth learning it like we don’t need to learn extremism and radicalization. But continuously striving for perfection in our personal & professional lives, we should make this whole world a Globalizing Global society and realize the ideal of “VASUDEV KUTUMBHKAM.”