Man, the conqueror of the world?

It seems really strange but sometimes this thought keeps occurring in my mind.
There are an estimated 10 million species of plants and animals living in this world. Over the course of time, evolution has ensured that all these living beings remain in harmony with each other making a complete ecosystem. This has resulted in a nearly perfect balance of the populations of species and resources present in nature.

Then suddenly, a whole new species emerges, by the name of Homo sapiens, with no unusual physical adaptations whatsoever; neither an athletic body, nor any special extensions thus making it a prime target for hungry predators. The one thing that it does have is an over-sized brain which seems useless at first. But slowly and slowly, it starts doing things never done by any life form before. It picks up stones and sticks and fashions weapons out of them. These it uses to hunt and build and gradually develops a complex society.

It starts living in small settlements which grow larger and larger into villages and finally into cities. After that it has tiny kingdoms sprouting up which have their own leaders and whose conquests lead to the formation of even larger kingdoms which soon turn into vast empires. It builds everything it needs for its comfort and enjoyment.

Hence it almost completely frees itself from the usual but slow process of progress i.e. natural selection. With the help of its new found intelligence, it starts gaining control on the world. Evolution forces creatures to change themselves to suit their surroundings, but this animal alters its surroundings to suit itself. I thus feel really astounded by the audacity of man, thinking that it is the sole inhabitant of earth and it alone deserves to consume and use all the resources present on the planet.

And yet I am truly amazed by the complex human mind, but unfortunately, I will have to post that some other day.

Is Westernisation eating up Indian Society?

We live in the Information age. The world today is a world of globalisation and cutting-edge technology. Anything can be transported anywhere, anytime. Any form of information can be sent to the opposite corner of the world via telephone, e-mail, or the internet. And hence it was but inevitable that it has led to the intermingling of cultures and traditions all over the world at a scale never witnessed before. This has resulted in the emergence of a whole new culture in itself known as ‘pop culture’ an abbreviated form of ‘popular culture’. It has its roots in the United States and hence is heavily influenced by Western society. It has gained immense popularity in the West and is now gradually reaching over to Asian countries. Some like Japan and South Korea have already adopted many aspects of pop culture.

India too is slowly catching up. The tremendous impact of westernisation can be seen in the youth of India these days, especially in metro cities like Mumbai. Young people nowadays are wildly after foreign goods, clothes and pop practices have become the norm. Its effects can even be seen in the language spoken by the youth and the influence of internet jargon is prevalent.

And at the same time this has caused the degradation of Indian traditions and customs. The new generation is forgetting the age old Indian civilization and its great history. Religion and ritual are considered orthodox and outdated. In the name of mordernisation, is it right that we disregard our own heritage?

From a different viewpoint however, India, throughout its vast history, has been a land which has seen countless invasions by innumerable invaders from different regions and having different religions, bringing with them their lore and lifestyle. But instead of bringing about a whole new transformation of society, as with many other places, they have been, over the course of time, absorbed and assimilated into what has made India so diverse. So, is this new transformation, a part of this never-ending process? If so, why is it happening so swiftly, unlike earlier changes which took place gradually? Will old Indian thought, be preserved in the coming generations? These are some questions that we definitely need to think and worry about.