The Power of Culture to Create a Better Future

 

NehaAnnaD’sa

Lourdes Central School

 

Once I saw a lady, as beautiful as ever. She wore a dazzling yellow sari with a red border. Her neck was filled with traditional gold jewellery and her feet were with Indian anklets that were ringing as she walked. Her hands were filled with bangles and she held a tri-coloured flag in them. Her mesmerizing gaze met mine and her eyes were filled with tears of blood. That’s when I realised that she was none other than mother India. She only said three words before she vanished and they were “don’t forget me”.

 

I used to wonder why mother India, the symbol of Indian culture had told me that. But as time passed by I soon realised.

 

Have all the youth really forgotten something soo important? Have we left something behind on the long run? Aren’t we ignoring our own identity as we are   modernising?

 

I say ‘yes’. That something is nothing other than our ‘culture’, our own culture. Culture is nothing but a way of life. Every nation has its own culture. And it is because of preserving this culture that nations have developed and prospered.

 

Being ruled in the hands of foreigners the people of India have become “skilled copyists”. Especially the youth, we want to be aliens in their own country. We want to talk, eat, walk and dress like other people. This is one of the most tragic scenes that we get to see among the young Indians. And this is one of the main obstacle that is holding us back from becoming a developed country.

 

Once my friend had told me how wonderful the European countries were and that she wished she was born there. Those words of hers put me into a deep thought. How easily we Indians consider ourselves inferior and worthless. Why don’t we think about those millions of tourists that come every day just to look at the wonder and culture of our country? The developed countries might be more advanced and stronger but that doesn’t mean that they are perfect. No nation is perfect; it needs to be made perfect. It is only the citizens who are responsible for the success of a nation. The day we realise our own potential and capabilities we can reach the stars. The first step is by believing in our identity, our culture.

 

We should be proud of our own culture. India, Being such a diverse nation, we are still united. We have such a rich and unique culture, then why lose it? Drawing new ideas from ones culture is one way of setting the foundation to build a stronger nation. We need to use are own traditions, art, values and means to carve a new India.

 

Culture is that powerful key that can set the future. For years we have searched far and near for different ways to attain success. Yet we never realised that the secret of success is only within us. We hold the key to our tomorrow. We are the masters of our time. We must keep moving forward but not by forgetting the very reason for our existence. Our culture is our most valuable treasure. It must be passed on generation after generation.

 

All alike, rich and poor worship god. Similarly no matter how rich we may become we must not forget our culture and never feel less important. Everyone is unique in their own way.

 

We get our culture from our family. It is inculcated in us from our birth and remains with us till we die. We just need to have faith in ourselves and in our culture and soon we will see the magic happen.

 

If we leave behind all our darkness and remove the blind fold off our eyes we will surely see a brighter tomorrow, a new world for you, me and the near future. I believe that someday the same mother India, who had cried before me, would come again and this time I would be smiling with her.