What things have we to say about fading Culture?

With the globalization, everyone feels and experience the value of our culture which once had been vibrant is depreciating incredibly. When we say Culture, as said by Foster is forbidding word for most of us. This is because we don’t tend to understand and appreciate the real essence of culture, may be due to the upcoming of science and modern technologies.

Simone Weil has rightly said that, “culture is an instrument wielded by professors to manufacture professors, who when their turn comes will manufacture professors.” Our parents/grandparents were the professors who manufactured us, the present beneficiaries, and it’s our responsibility to wield our culture and manufacture the right future professors, so that they can manufacture next professors or the beneficiaries with the same instrument called culture. We should be in a position to handover the culture that we have inherited from our ancestors to our young generation.

Many people hate to follow the culture due to their own good reasons. People who hate culture, argues saying that, the new world is being created by science, and with science and technologies they can prosper and earn profits. Hence, they give due importance in science and technologies which gives more profit than tradition.

These days we have Television, Cinema and many latest technologies which have replaced the old culture of performing drama. How many of us now practice this culture?  Who knows quite soon we may even see some new invention which will wipe out the Cinema industry and broadcasting house/Television shows. Even today, we can notice that no more people visit cinema hall due to upcoming of Television services.

A few good common examples which everybody is aware are, gho and Kira is being replaced by half gho/kira and paints, Zhungdra and beodra are more likely to be dominated by rigsar, traditional plough by power tillers and tractors, traditional bow and arrows by compound bows. Even people feel uncomfortable to write with their hands. So they use computers even to write their name.

Who is responsible for promotion and restoration of the Bhutanese culture which is already fading away with the time?  Some practices are almost on the verge of extinction and something should be done to revive them! Shall we keep them in the museum just in black and white or with the name tag on them? Will it help to revive and restore our culture? There are thousands of questions that each individual should ask.

As said by Mahatma Gandhi, “No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive.” So I feel it’s the sole responsibility of each individual to take care of them as we do to our own property. It’s the common property of every citizen. Let’s give way to our culture to be reborn again in this land locked and GHN country. Let no other external culture replace our vibrant culture. So hope for the best and let’s see whether culture really matters or not in the process of modernization.