What Does it Mean to be Indian?

Culture, economy, technology are mutually reinforcing. The way our society structures family, work, and community life leads to the kind of culture we have.

An agricultural society has a social identity as the mainstay of its people.

Work is subsumed under the social identity which means we put a premium on our social connectedness, our family and community relationships, our interdependence on family, kith and kin for our day-to-day survival. This defines our use of time and space, our priorities and life choices, our support systems, our voluntary and involuntary bonds, our organizational forms and interactions.

A work identity becomes the mainstay of industrial societies, where the social bonds are subsumed under the work identity.

This leads to the emergence of the workplace as the central focus of life, the work relationships take priority and the sense of community is built around work. The use of time and space, the voluntary and involuntary bonds, the organizational forms and interactions take on different forms which change the structuring of society. The employer-employee relationship, the organizational hierarchy in the work place, the emphasis on building a career, the organization-to-organization interface, define the structuring of society and manifest a different culture.

The shift from agricultural society to industrial society has happened with the development of technological/technical innovations which have brought about dramatic changes in the way we produce goods and services and institutional innovations which have shaped the organizational forms which emerge.

Thus the interplay between social identity and work identity of the people becomes a key definer of the culture of a society which keeps undergoing change with the changes in technology.

Is blood thicker than water?

The different options for provision of goods/services/facilities to people in society can be listed as:

• Family based provision
• Friends based provision
• Community based provision
• Professionals based provision
• State based provision

What are the implications for each of these options in terms of structuring of the society and of the economy?

What are the implications for the emerging culture in each option?

The terms of engagement, the terms of exchange, and the terms of endearment between individuals, groups, communities, and organizations can explain the contours of different cultures

He who has a true friend has no need for a mirror

Better a hundred enemies outside the house than one inside

True happiness lies in giving it to others

One finger cannot lift a pebble

It is better to be blind than to see things from only one point of view

Blaming your faults on nature does not change the nature of your faults

Where the needle goes, the thread follows

Patience is the most beautiful prayer

Among the blind, the one eyed man is king

A thief thinks everybody steals

There’s no greater enemy than pride

Time is stranger than all things else

The contented are always happy; the discontented are ever miserable

They know not their own defects who search for the defects of others

• Indic tradition describes three types of debts humans owe as ‘rna’ – pitr rna – the debt to one’s parents and ancestors, rishi rna – the debt to the sages and teachers, and deva rna – the debt to the gods and the divine. Rna is a very unique Indian insight which enables us to internalize the inter-connectedness of everything in this universe and our own dependence on it. It is implied from the concept of rta– which is also a unique Indian insight denoting the cosmic order.
• The four purusharthas – dharma, artha, kama, moksha – are a uniquely Indian analysis of the purpose of life.
• The four varnas – brahmin, kyshatriya, vaishya, sudra – are a uniquely Indian way of structuring society.
• The four ashramas – brahmacharya, grahaastha, vanaprastha, sanyas – are a uniquely Indian way of structuring an individual’s life.
• Ardhanarishwar is a unique Indian concept to explain the combining of the male and female principle in the universe and understand its manifestations at all levels of societal and individual existence – it is a way of developing a balance between these two principles.

Together, these unique Indian insights enable us to value and internalize the meaning of Balance – Equilibrium. ‘Ati’ – the Indian term for extremes – is to be avoided as it leads to harm.

The use of time and space undergoes dramatic changes with the shift from agriculture to industrialization. These changes are very visible in the cultures of the East and the West. Similarly, major changes are brought about by urbanization which is being pursued aggressively as the preferred mode of living. Urbanization can be sustained from the agricultural surplus produced mainly in the rural areas. The linkage with nature is a given in agricultural societies. Urban societies are trying to introduce elements of this linkage with nature in their lifestyles. Rural societies are trying to introduce elements of urban conveniences and facilities in their lifestyles. Thus, the meaning of both rural and urban is changing.

The flux between emphasizing the individual and the collectivity of individuals in various forms is a continuous process of interaction and learning between the East and the West – this flux has implications for structuring of life and living, for finding meaning and purpose in life as well as for evolving cultural mores and value systems. The shifting focus of the term ‘community’ is also related to this flux.

Social identity and work identity take on newer meanings in the context of the digital world. Social media and technological innovations are influencing cultures in the East and the West. Artificial intelligence, robotics, self-governing machines are increasingly becoming central to the lives of people in the East and the West. What will the respective cultures value in this changing context?

These are some of the arenas of interaction and learning between the East and the West which will become more prominent in the future.

The past, present, and future are interconnected by the inter-generational links. How are these links stabilized and reinforced?

In biology, specimens of plants and animals are studied by taking thin slices of tissue for examination. These thin slices are called sections and can be taken vertically or horizontally and are referred to as longitudinal section and transverse section respectively. Similarly, the inter-generational links in society can be understood as longitudinal sections or cross sections. When multiple generations live and work together, we see a longitudinal structuring of the inter-generational link. When each generation interacts largely with its own type, then we see a transverse section structuring of the inter-generational link.

Various needs of people in society are met through different mechanisms in both forms of structuring.

The relative importance of voluntary and involuntary relationships evolves differently in both these forms of inter-generational links.

Technology also plays a role in reinforcing or diluting the strength of the inter-generational links.

How do we want culture, technology, and economy to interact to help us to live holistically?