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What isCulture P09thApt.1950

I have come here with pleasure, because 1 have always looked forward to furthering the cause of
India's cultural association, not only with the neighboring countries to the East and West but with
the wider world outside. It is not a question of merely wanting such cultural association or
considering it good; it is rather a question of the necessity of the situation which is bound to worsen
it nothing 1s clone to prevent it. I earnestly hope that the formation of the Indian Council for Cultural
Relations will lead to a better understanding between our people and the peoples of other countries.

There is a great cleal of confusion in my mind and I shall state quite frankly what it is, All kinds of
basic questions crop up from what is going on in the world around us. Nations, individuals and
groups talk of understanding one another and it seems an obvious thing that people should try to
understand one another and to leam from one another, Yet, when I look through the pages of history
or study current events, I sometimes find that people who know one another most, quarrel most.
Countries, which are next door to one another in Europe or in Asia, somehow seem to rub one
another up the wrong way, though they know one another very thoroughly. Thus knowledge, by
itself, does not lead to greater co-operation or friendship. This is not a new thing. Even the long
pages of history show that. Has there been something wrong in individual nations or in the approach
to this question? Or is it something else that has not worked as it should have done? When we talk
of cultural relations, the question that immediately arises in my mind is -what exactly 15 the
'culture' that people talk so much about?

When I was younger in years, I remember reading about German 'kultur' and of the attempts of the
German people to spread it by conquest and other means. There was a big war to spread this kultur
and to resist it. Every country and every individual seems to have its peculiar idea of culnure. When
thereis talk about cultural relations-although it is very good in theory-what actually happens is
that those peculiar ideas come into conflict and instead of leading to friendship they lead to more
estrangement. It is a basic question -what is culture? And I am certainly, not competent to give you
a definition of it because I have not found one.

One can see each nation and each separate civilisation developing its own culture that had its roots
in generations hundreds and thousands of years ago. One sees these nations being intimately
moulded by the impulse that initially starts a civilisation going on its long path. That conception is
affected by other conceptions and one sees action and interaction between these varying
conceptions. There is, I suppose, no culture in the world which is absolutely pristine, pure and
unaffected by any other culture. It simply cannot be, just as nobody can say that he belongs one
hundred per cent to a particular racial type, because in the course of hundreds and thousands of
years unmistakable changes and mixtures have ocurred.,

So, culture is bound to get a litle mixed up, even though the basic element of a particular national
culture remains dominant. If that kind of thing goes on peacefully, there is no harm in it. Butit often
leads to conflicts. It sometimes leads a group to fear that their cultureis being overwhelmed by
what they consider to be an outside or alien influence. Then they draw themselves into a shell which
isolates them and prevents their thoughts and ideas going out. That is an unhealthy situation,
because in any matter and much more so in what imight be called a cultural matter, stagnation is the
worst possible thing. Culure, if it has any value, must have a certain depth. It must also have a
certain dynamic character, After all, culture depends on a vast number of factors. If we leave out
what mighit be called the basic mould that was given to it in the early stages of a nation's or a
people's growth, it is affected by geography, by climate and by all kinds of other factors. The culture
of Arabia is intimately governed by the geography and the deserts of Arabia because it grew up
there, Obviously, the culture of India in the old days was affected greatly, as we see im our OWn
 ot India among other things. It was
a

the Himalayas, the forests and the great rivers

literature, by like architecture, music and
Of the various domains of culture,
natural growth from the sol.
happy combination. But
literature, any two may mix
often
together, as they did, and produce a not naturally grOW and
where there is ah attempt to improve something
or
the other which does comes
contliCt inevitably arises. Then also something which
mould itself without uprooting itselt,
to all ideas of culture. And that is
the isolation of the mind and the
to my mind is basically opposed
other intluences. My own view of India's history
is that we can
deliberate shutting up of the mind to
advance ot India and the decline of India by relating them to
almost imeasure the growth and the
she wanted to close it up. The
periods when India had her mind open to the
outside
world and when nation or
became. Lite, wlhether of the individual, group,
more static she
more she closed it up, the
Whatever stops that dynamic growth also
society, is essentially a dynamic, changing. grOwing thing.
injures it and underinines it.

We have had great religions and they have lhad an enormous effect on humanity. Yet, if I may say sSo
with all respect and without meaning any 1ll to any person, those very religions, in the measure that

an evil effect. The

they made the mind of man static, dogmatic and bigoted, have had, to my mind,
things they said may be good but when it is claimed that the last word lias been said, society
becomes static.

The individual human being or race or nation must necessarily have a certain depth and certain
roots somewhere. They do not count for much unless they have roots in the past, which past is after
all the accumulation of generations of experience and some type of wisdom. It is essential that you
have that. Otherwise you become just pale copies of something which has no real meaning to you as
an individual or as a group. On the other hand, one cannot live in roots alone. Even roots wither
unless they come out in the sun and the free air. Only then can the roots give you sustenance. On,
How, then, are you to balance hese two essential
then can there be a branching out and a flowering.think a great deal about the flowers and the leaves
factors? 15 very dificult,
lt because some people
on the branches, forgetting that they only flourish because there is a stout root to sustain them.
Others think so much of the roots that no flowers or leaves or branches are left, thhere is only a thick
stem somewhere. So, tlhe question is how one is to achieve a balance.

D o e s culure mean some inner growth in the man? Of course, it must. Does it nean the way he
behavesto others? Certainly it must. Does itmean the capacity-to understand the other person? I
Suppose so. Does it mean thhe capacity to make yourself understood by the ouher person? I suppose
so, It means all that. Apersor whe eaHHot nderstand another's viewpoint is to that extent limited in
mind and culture, because nobody, perhaps, barring some very extraordinary human beings, can
presume to have the fullest knowledge and wisdom-. The other party or the other group may also
have some inkling of knowledge or wisdom or truth and 'if we shut our minds to that then we not
only deprive ourselves of it but we cultivate an attitude of mind which, I would say, is opposed to
that of a cultured man. The cultured mind, rooted in itsell, should have its doors and windows open.
It should have the capacity to understand the other's view- point fully even though it cannot always
agree with it. The question of agreement or disagreement only arises when you understand a thing.
Otherwise, it is blind negation which is not a cultured approach to any question.

I should like to use another word-science. What is a scientilic approach to life's problems? I
Suppose it is one of examining everything, of seeking truth by trial and error and by experiment, of
never saying that this must be so but turying to understand why it is so and, if one is convinced of it,
o f accepting it, of having the capacity to change one's notions the moment some other proof is
forthconing, of having an open mind, which tries to imbibe the truth wherever it is found. If that is
culture, how tar is it represented in the modern world and in the nations of today? Obviously, if it
was represented more than it is, many of our problems, national and international, would be far
easier to solve.
 Almost every country in the world believes that it has some special dispensation from Providence,
that it i5 ot the chosen people or race and that others, whether they are good or bad, are somewhat
inferior creatures, It is eatraordinary how this kind of feeling persists in all nations of the East as
well as of theWest without exception. The nations of the East are strongly entrenched in their own
ideas and convictions and sometimes in their own sense of superiority about certain matters.
Anyhow, in the course of the last two or three hundred years, they have received many knocks on
the head and they have been humiliated, they have been debased and they have been exploited. And
so, in spite of their feeling that they were superior in many ways, they were forced to admit that

they could be knocked about and-exploited. To someextent, this brought a sense of realism to them.
There was also an attempt to escape from reality by saying that it was sad that we were not s0
advanced in material and technical things but that these were after all
superticial things;
neverthele,we were superior in essential things, in spiritual things, in moral values. I have no
doubt that spiritual things and moral values are ultinately more important than other things but the
way one finds escape in the thought that one is spiritually superior, simply because one is inferior in
a material and physical sense, is surprising. It does not follow by any means. It is an escape from
facing up to the causes of one's degradation.

Nationalism, ofcourse,isa curious phenomenon which at a certain stage in a country's history

gives life, growth, strength and unity but, at the same time, it has a tendency to limit one, because
one thinks of one's country as something different from the rest of the world. The perspective
changes and one is continuously thinking of one's own stnuggles and virtues and failings to the
exclusion of other thoughts. The resultis that the same nationalism, which is the symbol of growth
for apeople,becomesasymbol ofthe cessation ofthat growiin the mind. Nationalism, whenit
beconmes successtul, sometimes goes on spreadimgin an aggressive way
internationally. Whatever iine of thought youfoitow, you arrive at the
and becomes a danger
conclusion that some kind of
balance must be tound. Otherwise something that was good can turn into evil. Culture, which is
essentiaily goOd, becoines not only static but aggressive and something that breeds conflict and
hatred when looked at trom a wrong point of view. How you are to End a balance, I do not know.
Apart from the political and economic problems of the age, perhaps, that is the greatest problem
today, because behind it there is a tremendous conflict in the spirit of man and a tremendous search
for something which it cannot find. We turn to economic theories because they have an undoubted
importance. t is folly to talk of culture or even of Cod when human beings starve and- die. Before
one can talk about anything else one must provide the normal essentials of life to human beings,
That is where economics comes in. Human beings today are not in the mood to tolerate this
suttering and starvation and inequality when they see that the burden is not equally shared. Others
profit while they only bear the burden.

We have inevitably to deal with these problems in economic and other ways but I do think that
behind it all there is a tremendous psychological problem in the minds of the people. It may be that
soe people think about it consciously and deliberately and others rather unconsciously and dimly
but that this conflict exists in the spirit of man today is certain. How it will be resolved, I do not
know. One thing that troubles me is this: people who understand one another more and more begin
often enough to quarrel more and more. Nevertheless, it does not follow from this that we should
not ury to understand one another. That would amount to limiting one-self completely and that is
something which really cannot be done in the context of the modern world. Therefore, it becomes
essential that we ry to understand one another in the right way. The right way i5 important. The
right approach, the friendly approach, is important, because a friendly approach brings a friendly
response. I have not the slhadow of a doubt that it is a fundamental nule of hunman life that, if the
approach is good, the response is good. If the approach is bad, the response is likely to be bad, too.
So, if we approach our fellow human beings or countries in a friendly way, with our minds and
hearts open and prepared to accept whatever good comes to them - and that does not mean
 Surrendering something that we consider of essential value to tnuth or to our own genus-tnen we
Shall
be led not only towards understanding but the right type of understanding. So,
you to delernine what culture and wisdom really are. We grow in I shal eave
experience, till we have suh learning,
àh 'enornous accumulation of them that
in
knowledge andtoin
it becomes
know exactuy where we stand. We are overwhelmed by all this and, at impossible
the same time,
other we
have a feeling that all these put together do not necessarily somenowor
wisdom ot the human race. I have representa growth in the
a feeling that perhaps some people wh0 did not have all the
advantages ot modern ife and modern science were essentially wiser than most ot us are. Whether
or not we shall be able in later times to
combine all this knowledge, scientitic
betterment of the human
species with true wisdom, I do not know. It is a race between and growth
various
forces. I am reminded of the saying of a
very wise man who was a famous Greek poet:
What else is wisdom? What of man's endeavor or"
God's high grace, so lovely and so great?
To stand from
fear set lfree, to breathe and wait,
To hold a hand uplifted over Hate,
And shall not Loveliness be loved for ever?

Speech at the inauguration of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi, April 9, 1950