"Morden Indian Values"

    

    The North-Eastern societies are still down-toearth. They are not yet alienated from the sophisticated aesthetics of Khajuraho and Konarak, whose erotic sculptures were dictated by the logic of drishti-shuddhi, i.e. emptying one’s mind of everything, including things erotic, before entering the main sanctum of the temple. It is noteworthy in this regard that the dynasty which built Khajuraho was of tribal origin. The non-alienated Indian sees the numinous in everything, and especially in the most intimate and self-involving situations like coitus. To paraphrase what Gautama Buddha is supposed to have taught: samsara equals nirvana. Such a healthy worldview was conducive to humor, whereas modern Indians lack a sense of humor, as the Assamese writer Lakshminath Bezbaruah had also commented. The sanctum of the Padmanabhaswami temple in Trivandrum; on the outside of the sanctum sanctorum, there are a number of carvings depicting scenes from daily life. The concept of blasphemy is alien to the traditional Indian, more so perhaps to the low-caste artisan who carved the above scene in Trivandrum.

    The above syndromes are also significant from the point of view of upcasting, because as one becomes wealthier one practices more ritual avoidances (which one can now afford to) in order to claim higher status, e.g. by avoiding “boiled” rice and taking only “polished” rice. In contrast, in the North-East, ritualistic avoidance is less rigid; for example, the observation of the monthly “pollution” of women is less egregious. In some parts of Assam, the onset of a girl's puberty is still celebrated by throwing a feast. And at Kamakhya, the main festival celebrated is the annual menses of the Goddess.

    The seasonal festivals are still celebrated vigorously in the North-East: the cyclical concept of time has apparently not yet surrendered here to the Western linear concept. The springtime Bihu of Assam, and similar festivals of the North-East, are marked by joyous dancing and singing for days on end. Some of these still retain their association with fertility rites. During this spring-festival, elopements take place even now in the rural areas of upper Assam. This sophisticated attitude of personal freedom is a reflection of the matrifocal nature of these societies, which are thus more open than other Indian societies. It may be noted here that till recently the system of bride-price was extant in some of these areas of North-Eastern India. On the other hand, in mainstream India we have Gandhi, who had such a profound influence on the minds of young Indians, wanting to pull down the temples at Khajuraho because he felt they were obscene! This is in line with his politics of celibacy, which he successfully used to become a “saint” in the eyes of the Indian masses. There are of course changes taking place due to urbanization, but the Indian women’s eroticism is still similarly denied in most parts of the country, except insofar as it relates to her fertility.

    Indians have a deep mother-fixation, and the Indian female is glorified as mother, sati, etc. This is admirable but, as the new discipline of Women’s Studies has clearly shown, the effect is to suppress woman’s erotic and autonomous persona. The traditional Indian world-view, however, as illustrated in the myths of mother-son incest to create the world, was no doubt more sophisticated as compared to the sterility and uprightness of the reductionist Oedipal and other Freudian theories. Classical India had accepted all parts of the human experience: everything was sacred, and life itself was lila or divine play. That is why, perhaps, mental health has not yet been defined as a salient problem in India. This is especially true of the matrifocal and non-aggressive societies of the North-East. It may thus even be claimed that the classical Indian concept of Ardhanariswara is an apt reflection of the personality-structure in the North-East.

    The ascetic and non-hedonistic morality of India is exemplified by the fact that even Tantrics view coitus as a means to a spiritual end. Their apologetic attitude is shown by their attempts to claim Vedic status for their minority scriptures. This is responsible for a certain identity-confusion among Tantrics, since they espouse liberal values in an overwhelmingly puritanical society. Further, the Vedas are shruti, and the Indian veneration of the written word is perhaps responsible for the lack of mature critical attitudes among Indian intellectuals. Of course, another reason for Indians’ non-critical and naive attitudes is the Indian veneration of heroes and avatars like Rama. Indian societies are authoritarian: elders are obeyed, implicitly and explicitly. Gandhi and Buddha are not criticized.

    Let us now consider Indian aesthetics. In classical Indian drama, there is no concept of tragedy. Classical Indian music is based on harmony, whereas Western music is contrapuntal. Indian poetry is philosophically idealistic : only since Tagore has Indian poetry treated nature as an independent entity. This is perhaps not surprising in a society in which mystics are the cynosure: the individual and his works are not important; what is important is the state of mystic union. This syndrome is probably the cause of what others see as Indian fatalism; Indians believe in karma and since the Muslim middle-ages, in fate or takdeer. It is only since the coming of the British that secular, i.e. non-religious, values have begun to take root.

    Modem alienated Indians, however, are philistine. Their values are totally ersatz. Indian films are silly and romantic, whereas in actual fact Indian marriages are purely utilitarian, as witness the number of dowry deaths reported in newspapers. Modem Indians are terribly puritanical. They consider it rustic and unsophisticated to take thandai or bhang (i.e. cannabis Indica) during Holi whereas what they are really afraid of is to let go. On the other hand, Holi itself has degenerated from the traditional sophisticated merriment into hooliganism.

    To sum up, mainland India has much to learn from the sophisticated cultures of the North-East. It would seem, however, that the North-Eastern Indian societies themselves are falling prey to the values of mainstream India, as they become more Sanskritized. In fact, part of the etiology of the present political unrest in this region is perhaps this very clash of conflicting values.