SO YOU THINK YOU CAN ………experience culture?

I love all civilizations. I would love to know about their culture. Let us take Egypt! I go visit the pyramids! Wooow! Masterpiece! Now I know everything about Egyptian culture! I love Indian culture too! So let us hit Rajasthan and catch up with their folk dance, and to know about south Indian culture, let us feast our ears and eyes to carnatic music and bharatnatyam! (:o)
So you think you understood their culture? NO! (wish you could hear me scream!)

It does not work in this manner friends! You might probably understand their ART but never their culture! ART and CULTURE… They are different but inter-related! ART is a part of CULTURE. ART is an outburst of creative thoughts and putting it to action while Culture is the way of life! If you really need to go in depth about one’s culture, then probably you need to become one among them! BE A ROMAN IN ROME is such an apt quote that sums up my message!

Not many days ago, while travelling in an AUTO in the unavoidable heavy traffic of MUMBAI, I spotted this tourist with a very peculiar vehicle! It was a cross between a cycle and a inclined cart carrying himself and his bags. The whole picture gave me such a thrill and crave to explore places his way! Now you understand what I am saying? Instead of renting a car or a tourist bus, see how well he got in touch with the place! We got to learn from what we see around! And that way we learn the most and the best!(:))

Art is definitely an important PART of understanding a culture but the various other folds are food, manners, festivals etc. But all these are not to be experienced individually!

Let us take DIWALI as an example of reflecting Indian culture. We get up 4 am, scrub and wash our hair with SHIKKAKAI (a herbal power used before the invention of shampoos), wear PATTU pudavai (silk sari), or pavada chattai (which are restricted to teenagers), and perform poojai to the GOD. Later we gobble a very heavy breakfast sitting on the floor, with huge BANANA leaves sprinkled with water for us to clean them before eating. The quantity of food is very less compared to the variety of the dishes. Yet it usually is very difficult for any of us to get up immediately after eating! Later we go out and burst the variety of crackers which ends in an electrifying night with vibrantly colored sparks decorating the dark sky!

The procedure may be really long, but the point is, you cannot just have the food, or just burst the crackers and boast of experiencing the culture! The experience happens only by following the procedure!(:))

So now you all know what to do to get in touch with one’s culture! By the way anyone interested in south Indian culture??? Please approach me wearing lungis (meant only for guys! :P)