Indonesia finds a special reference and place all through in
the Indian cultural and even economic & political history. Whether its
parables or fables, myths or realities, Indonesia remains a familiar cultural
environ for every Indian.
In fact the histories of the two nations share a similar
course of fate. As India has multiracial and cultural incursions leaving its
imprint on its cultural fabric through the ages, Indonesia too has witnessed a
somewhat similar fate. From Aryans to Macedonians, shytho-Parthians to Turkish,
Mughals, Portuguese, Dutch and British, it’s a history of continuous conflict,
reconciliation and indegenization for India. Similarly, Indonesia has Hindu,
Buddhist, Islamic, Portuguese and Dutch all making inroads into its millenia
old cultural fabric; and what we see today as a vast expance of cultural
symbols and expressions, is perhaps the rare example of peaceful acculturation
through sanskritization, reconciliation and indegenization. Even after going
through centuries of sufferings and subjugation, the continuity of our cultural
miliu remained intact and we learnt not to suffer from the what Arnold Toynbee
said “the mirage of immortality” in a multicivilizational world. We always
believed in “collective Representations”, as Sociologist and thinker, Emile
Durkheim will put it.
If I apply present day’s World Systems Theory, we have
continuously been following ‘cultural homogenization through exchange of
information’ and “inter-cultural communication”. Today the world is devising
ways and means to prepare ground for “Uncertainty avoidance”; we have achieved
the same ages ago, may be not in terms of economic and political power due to
being worse victims of colonial subjugation and imperialistic terror, but
certainly in the sphere of our cultural and community living.
Ladies & Gentlemen,
The list of commonalities and linkages between Indonesia and
India is quite long, if we describe the sources and analysis of various
archeological, numismatic, epigraphic and literary remains. Right from today’s
textile, woodcraft, sculptures, Islamic and Sufi traditions, Ramayana and
Mahabharata traditions, symbols of Ganesha, Vishnu and Garuda, architectural
similarities, food habits, day-to-day family chores and norms, methods of
worship to the centuries old trade relation proved by the remains of Rouletted
Ware found in the excavations of Sembilan in the north coast of Bali, existence
of “Klingas” in Java and colonies of old Dravidian settlers in West Sumatra.
I, therefore, have taken help of projecting some of the very
important and relevant details on the screen before you so that I can end my
presentation within the designated time period. I’ll keep my domain restricted
to a
brief introductory analysis of the possibility of Silk Route being one of the
first facilitators of our contacts;
·
Few
details of the remains found and the revelations thereof;
·
What
we are today in the light of our past historical and cultural linkages; and
·
What
all can be achieved to forge a better understanding and ground for cooperation.
As rightly indicated by Samuel P. Huntington in his famous
book “ The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World order”,“.…economic
exchange brings people into contact; it doesn’t bring them into agreement….”whereas
in case of Cultural interaction it is the other way around. Culture being a
socially shared activity and developed empirically over the years, it doesn’t
carry any angularity of conflict; it rather enlightens ways to keep people
engaged and sharing the finer and aesthetical aspect of each other without any
malice or prejudice.
Today with our respective phases of development vis-à-vis the
world order, we are in a whirlpool of an extremely complicated multi-cultural,
multi-civilizational and multi-interest world, where he, who lacks a cultural core,
would perish. Any country ever attempting to disavow their cultural heritage
and shift the identity of their country from one civilization to another has
only created a schizophrenic torn nation. Here, it’s appropriate to remember
the prophetic suggestion of Mahatma Gandhi that let the air of all cultures and
environ pass through my window. The interaction and exchange should cause a
healthy homogenization therby strengthening the existing cultural core, and not
destroy or uproot the same.
Fortunately, both Indonesia and India, through millenia of
cultural interaction and sharing have earned a society having a strong cultural
core of their own, which only needs to get further cemented in making us to learn
to navigate the shallows, endure the miseries, moderate their ventures, and
safeguard their culture. We wish and work diligently for a better and healthier
understanding of our commonalities and cultural affinities.
Let our people to people contact flourish further through
tours, travels, exchange of scholars and studies, research and development in
various subjects of common interest, preservation and popularization of our
common heritage, and continuous connectivity to keep our youth and future generations
aware enough about the virtue of respecting the well nourished and preserved
cultural core.
No comments:
Post a Comment