RESPECT CULTURE-- CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

CULTURE — CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

from a man who has sailed around the world for 3.5 decades and worked with with alien cultures for long -

- and can think crystal clear!

it is well known that Indians have the oldest culture in the world-- the Saraswati river Vedic civilization is the oldest in the world --it thrived from 9000 BC to 4000 BC.

culture should be appreciated in terms of itself.

what is moral in one culture might be immoral or ethically neutral in another .

culture is that complex whole -- which is a potpourri of language, ideas, beliefs, customs, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, art, rituals, knowledge, morals ,law, habits , folktales , values,
conventions, ceremonies etc etc --- snowballed by man as a member of the society.

the use of culture depends upon an ability for rational or abstract possessed by humans alone. animals dont have it.

culture could be a logical construct, or a psychic defense mechanism or even an abstraction from behaviour.

once established, culture has a life of its own, in a CAUSE AND EFFECT --YIN-YANG relationship--

it flows down through time from one generation to another. it is the most highly developed means of promoting freedom from worry and continuity of life, in a series that began with the simple reflex.

man's immediate prehuman ancestors had societies, but they did not have culture.
it can cause a person to die of hunger, though nourishment is available, because some foods are branded unclean by the culture. and it can cause a person to disembowel or shoot himself to wipe out a stain of dishonour.

culture is stronger than life and stronger than death. culture triumphs over death and offers man eternal life.

wife lending among the eskimo might be practiced as a gesture of hospitality, a way of cementing a friendship and promoting brotherhood in a unforgiving and dangerous environment, and thus may acquire the status of a high moral value.

cultures themselves must NEVER EVER be evaluated or graded as higher and lower, superior or inferior.

a culture is a time tested means to an end-- the culture ( or way of life ) of the more highly developed nation is “imposed” upon the less developed peoples .

now-a-days it is fashion -- to use word culture mindlessly like corporate culture, computer culture, or alien culture , -- here it is CULTURAL --- not culture.

in anthropology and sociology we apply culture clashes, culture shock, and counter- culture (like eating from same plate--)

in a nutshell -- RESPECT CULTURE--

CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL