The words you are searching are inside this book. To get more targeted content, please make full-text search by clicking here.

March 4, 1961 Professor M N Srinivas defines Sanskritisation as follows ; A low caste was able, in a generation or two, to rise to a higher position in the hierarchy ...

Discover the best professional documents and content resources in AnyFlip Document Base.
Search
Published by , 2016-03-25 00:18:03

Sanskritisation, Westernisation and India's North-West

March 4, 1961 Professor M N Srinivas defines Sanskritisation as follows ; A low caste was able, in a generation or two, to rise to a higher position in the hierarchy ...

March 4, 1961

Sanskritisation, Westernisation and India's North-West

Dev Raj Chanana

Professor M N Srinivas defines Sanskritisation as follows ;

A low caste was able, in a generation or two, to rise to a higher position in the hierarchy by adopting
vegetarianism and teetotalism. and by Sanskritising its ritual and pantheon . . .

— ( " R e l i g i o n and Society among the Coorgs of South I n d i a " , Oxford, 1952, p 30 and 'A Note on
Sanskritisation and Westernisation". Far Eastern Quarterly, Vol xv, No 4 ) .

The aim of the present note is to examine its implications in terms of its applicability to the Hindu
society of the North-West of India.

BY the Hindu society of North- p u b l i c ) , d i d try to go to some tirtha Hindus of Sindh cannot, therefore,
West of India is meant the Hin- if he got the chance, had his sons be considered to be open to the in-
and daughters married before Agni fluence of Sanskritisation. The Holy
dus of Panjab and what was known with a Brahmin conducting the cere- Grantha of the Sikhs is a collection
as the North Western Frontier Pro- mony and cremated his dead (ex- of hymns composed by various saints
vince. The latter as also a large cepting the children, who were in the Middle Ages and includes the
part of the former are now included buried). But he ate meat, onions poetry of Namadeva, Kabir and
in West Pakistan. The Majority of and tomatoes, relished eggs and ate others on the one hand, and that of
the Hindus of these areas are settled his stuff even in the bazar, generally the Sufi saints like Farid on the
in Indian Panjab. Delhi and Western put on the sacred thread only at the other. Needless to say that the rest
U P. The rest have spread all over time of marriage, recited no mantra is that of the Sikh Gurus themselves.
the country. (save Rama-nama), knew no San- Therefore, the language of the larger
skrit and sent his children to the part is Punjabi.
As in other parts of the country, local Madrassa run by a Maulvi.
here also we have to take note of the And of Sikhism
t w i n processes of Sanskritisation and In the sphere of religion, he was
Westernisation and examine their deeply influenced by Islam, especial- In the domain of ritual, the oppo-
inter-relationship. The first thing to ly by the teachings of Sufi Saints1. sition of the Sikh Gurus to Sanskrit
note is the historic fact of the rela- Some Sufi Saints have had a tremen- ritual was total and they evolved a
tive weakness of the Brahmin in- dous influence on the non-Muslims, simplified one of their own in Pan-
fluence in this region. Ever since and quite a number of conversions jabi. We may, therefore, conclude
the large-scale conversions of the to Islam can be traced to them. In that among the Hindus of Sindh as
artisans, craftsmen and peasants to so far as his past was concerned, the also among the Sikhs of Panjab and
Islam, the Hindus living in these Hindu knew the stories of Rama and N W F P. there has been little or no
areas have been relatively few in Krishna, and also knew something need for Sanskritisation. either in
number and instead of exercising about the Vedas, Upanishads, etc. the spiritual domain or in that of
dominating influence on the Muslims, This may sound little in terms of ritual.
they have themselves been influenced intellectual equipment. It may be
by the latter. As proof thereof may added here that this is all that he By way of intellectual equipment,
be noted the relative scarcity of had inherited in terms of Sanskrhisa- the Holy Granth and related litera-
temples in these parts, the non-exis- lion till about a century ago (The ture offered the best that has been
tence of Brahmins well-versed in British annexed the Punjab in 1852). produced by the North-Indian poet-
the Shastras (except in Jammu and But another source was at his dis- saints during the Middle Ages as
other Hindu-ruled Hill States), the posal, namely the teachings of the also a good deal of what had been
total absence of any Sanskrit schools Sikh Gurus. When we excluded handed down by Muslim Sufis, a
till very recently and the relative from our survey the Hindus of large part whereof in Pan jabi.
laxity in the enforcement of prohi- Sindh. it was because they follow
bitions regarding outing, etc. the Sikh tenets, though they do not Although the Hindus and Sikhs
keep long hair and a beard, and do of Panjab, specially in the urban
Deep Influence of Islam not abstain from smoking. The areas, today look like getting away
from each other, this should not lead
The H i n d u of the North-West was In the sphere of culture, this region us to view the Panjab Hindus as a
a H i n d u because he d i d not eat beef also forms part of an area extending separate social group, especially in
(and dared not eat p o r k ) , did not as far as Tran-Azerbaidjan on the the rural areas The separation is
practise circumcision, d i d not have one hand and Afghanistan-Tajikistan gaining strength only now. but even
his moustache shaved in the middle, on the other. The people, therefore, today many Hindu families baptize
did sometimes manage to keep a have a great deal in common with their first son as a Sikh and some-
shikha, did not like to eat with the what can be called Muslim areas, times a Sikh father may have some
Muslims (though he did exchange where Persian, Tunkish and Arabic children brought up as Sikhs and
uncooked cereals on festive occa- influences have intermingled in the the rest as H i n d u s (and vice versa).
sions), d i d not ask his women to past. The British cut it off from the Therefore despite the apparent
wear the burqa ( t h o u g h in over- rest on political grounds but the polarisation of today, a large section
whelmingly Muslim areas. Hindu similarities in question have proved of the Panjab Hindus have had the
women had to cover themselves in to be too deeply rooted. Holy Grantha and allied literature as
their sacred texts. Their ritual
409

March 4, 1961 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

needs on occasions such as baptism, blem of social uplift for a lower are principally the landless village-
marriage, death, etc.. have been ful- caste was not comparable in its labourers known as "kamin" or
filled In a simplified system con- scope and magnitude to that in other work-man. They are untouchables
ducted in Panjabi. parts of India. The Hindus and and are so recognised in our Con-
Sikhs consisted mostly of the com- stitution. The majority follow the
Scripture in Mother Tongue mercial classes and in certain areas, Sikh faith and they are popularly
e g Pothohar, Sialkot and Gurdas- called the Majhabis. In the social
The Brahmins of Panjab. except pur, they were peasants also. The sphere, they also seek i n s p i r a t i o n
in certain arras, have also been un- pattern of the newly-settled canal- from Sikh scriptures.
der this very influence. In some of irrigated areas of Lyallpur and
the Sikh majority areas under Sikh Montgomery followed the pattern Sikh and Hindu Rumgarhis
rulers, ( Patiala. Nabha. Jind). one of the villages in the district of ori- A few words may be said here
comes across Sikh Brahmins, i e, gin in ( what is now) Indian Pan- regarding certain professional cas-
persons wearing long hair and tur- jah. These commercial men and tes. We wish to refer here, parti-
bans. going to the Gurudwara hut peasants did not feel the need to fol- cularly to the Hamgarhis commu-
who are endogamous. Therefore low or imitate the Brahmins. The nity. This community furnishes
the very group which could have latter among them also did not have most of the masons, carpenters, die-
helped Brahminize. Sanskritise the much to show. In the social set-up men, founders. turners, motor-me-
H i n d u masses, was in no position to they were not the leaders and nor chanics, etc of the Panjab. Many
do so. We may. therefore, observe was economic power in their hands.4 among them are under the influence
that even a large section of the Hin- of the Sikh religion, notably of one
dus of the Panjab. specially those Social uplift of its reformist sects, the Nama-
living in rural areas and small towns dharis. The latter are, so to say. the
have been under the influence of a It w i l l not he correct to say. how- "puritans" of the province. For
religion, which had Panjabi and not ever, that no social group, no com- instance they must wash their long
Sanskrit as its language. This body munity felt the need for social up- hair every day fin winter it is quite
of religious literature, (the term re- lift at all. Despite the. equality cold in the Panjab), abstain from
ligion and its derivatives are to be granted by Sikh scriptures to all, intoxicating drinks and meat and
taken in a broad sense and should irrespective of Trades-castes, cer- are promise-bound not to steal, not
include both the ritual and the moral tain communities were looked to tell lies, to protect the cow,
aspect), has been at the disposal of down upon because of the occupa- etc. They derive their inspiration
the non-Muslim Panjabis for over tion followed by them. For exam- for these acts of f a i t h , not f r o m
three centuries. ple, the Abluwalias had a very low- Sanskrit scriptures, but from the
social status as they engaged in the Holy Grantha in Panjabi. Another
Therefore whenever any group of distillation and sale of liquor. Their community of masons, carpenters
people living in this region has felt professional name was Kalal. There etc which has not come under the
the need for any amelioration in its is a popular saying, given me by an influence of Sikh religion, now calls
social status, it has always sought Ahluwalia friend, which stresses the itself the descendants of Vishva-
guidance in the scriptures available need to hew are of a crow (kan). a karma, the divine carpenter and
to it in its own language". We have Kalal and a dog (kutta), even when some of them affix the title. "Pan-
also to observe that these non-Mus- they are asleep. They got the chance dat" before their names. Among
lims did not have a large number to improve their social status, when such people Sanskritisation can be
of lower castes among them.2 as the one of their castes was able to carve said to have had effect. This com-
lower castes had been converted ear- out the state of Kapurthala for him- munity maintains temples dedicated
lier to Islam. Therefore, the pro- self. The entire community then to Visvakarma.
laid claim to the title of Kshatriyas
2 In strut objectivity, we should state and set up the " A l l I n d i a A h l u w a l i a Of course in so far as the ulti-
that along with this literature of the K h a h i Mahasabba", But as the mate source of the spiritual values
Sikhs, some. 'Hindu literature has also princely house of Kapurthala was of Sikh religion is concerned, it can
hern available. For example Panjabi Sikh, the need for discontinuing the be traced to the Upanishads through
translations of the Gita and certain former trade and engaging in other the Vedanta. To this extent, it may
other texts used to he the common professions, was felt as a conse- also be included within the term,
heritage of both Hindus and Sikhs. quence of the teaching of Sikh scri- Sanskritisation. But if the consci-
This was symbolised by the same ptures in Panjahi. It may he ousness of the people is the vast
building housing both the idols and observed, en passant, that for pur- majority of the people, however, they
the Grantha. It was railed the poses of marriage, this community are not conscious to this day of this
Dharam-sal ( Dharma-shala ). has been endogamous. ultimate source.''

3 We have left out not only the Chris- Though there were not many low . At an earlier date, upto the time of
tians, a very small group, but also easte people among the non-Muslims Guru Gobindsingh and later, the atti-
the Jains, a small but cohesive com- in Panjah as a whole., there are cer- tude towards Sanskrit had been dif-
munity, which was to be found in tain communities in the Indian Pan- ferent. This Guru had sent some of
Rawalpindi. Sialkot, Gujiranwala, jab. which are "low-caste". These his disciples to Kashi to learn Sans-
Lahore and other towns. Though lead- krit. A new feature of the present
ing an isolated life in respect of 4 In Panjabi the word Pandat (Pandit) times is the growing awareness of
marriage, its members did exert some denotes a Brahmin and may connote the scholars of Panjabi, mostly Sikhs,
influence on their neighbours and some respect for the latter. But the of the need to learn Sanskrit to fur-
friends in so far as abstention from word Bahman (Brahmin) almost al- ther research in Panjabi language
meat, eggs, onions, tomatoes, etc., ways carries a little contempt. and literature.
was concerned.

410

THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY March 4, 1961

Agrawal Community a large scale. Here along with morality), it may not be quite rele-
English. other languages including vant to include (heir work within
As our subject is Sanskritisation, Sanskrit. Arabic and Persian also the present note.
let us discuss the case of the Agra- began to be taught in schools and
wal community of the Panjab. This colleges. In course of time, faci- Movement of Sanskritisation
community, spread all over the re- lities for prosecuting studies in these However, the increasing aware-
g i o n , can be d i v i d e d into two sec- subjects upto the M . A . and beyond ness of ancient Sanskritic values
tions, the Hindi-speaking and the were provided. These steps were did lead to a broad movement of
Punjabi-speaking. The former hail well received by the urban Hindu "Sanskritisation" among the mid-
mostly from the area of Hissar- and Muslim, who were becoming dle class Hindus.
Hansi-Bhiwani-Riwari of Indian conscious of the need of defending
Panjab. bordering on the Bajasthau their past before the onslaught of The influence of movements like
Desert. Inspite of having lived con- the Western way of life. In the the Brahmo Samaja as also the
tinuously in the Panjabi-speaking social sphere, the Arya Samaj and part played by Brahmin scholars
area for several generations, they certain Muslim organisations propa- coming from other areas of India
have always kept themselves in gated the need for a revival of an- to help the two movements, is not
touch with the parent-area. They cient learning, and the study of being discussed here. If the Cen-
married only among the Hindi- classical languages. Sanskrit. Arabic sus Reports f r o m the end of the
speaking Agrawals and were quite arid Persian, received a great im- nineteenth century onwards are
conservative even as regards inter- petus from such movements. analysed, it w i l l be seen that the
dining. In consequence of having number of Guptas. Varmas and
tome from a Hidu-majority area, Now if the A r y a Samaj was large- Sharmas has increased with the
this section of the community was ly a movement of reaction against passage of time. This is. most pro-
largely under the influence- of San- I s l a m and Christianity. a new move- bably. due to a revival of interest
skritic Shastras and have been quite ment arose in these parts as a direct in Smriti literature, in w h i c h the
active in the movement of the Sana- reaction to unceasing and intempe- members of the first three varnas
tan Dharma Sabha. referred to be- rate attacks of the Arya Samaj on have Sharma. Y a r m a and Gupta res-
low. But in this case. Sanskrit in- the Sanatana. the ancient values of pectively at the end of these names.
fluence was imported along with the the Hindu religion. Its organisa- This is but one example. rinse
community itself. tion was called the Sanatan Dharma reports as also the voters" lists w i l l
Sabha. also show an increasing tendency
The Panjabi-speaking o u t of this towards the sanskrilisation of names
community is also engaged in trade While defending the values of among the Hindus land of Persia-
and commerce and has the same both the Sruti and Smriti against nisation and Arabisation among
gotras. But probably they migrat- the unique Sruti values of the A r y a the M u s l i m s . leading to the replace-
ed earlier and had been cut off from Samaj, the Sanatan Dharmis also ment of Panjabi names like Guran-
their parent-area. In consequence had to find an answer to the chal- ilitta and Ramrakkha by names
they are completely Panjabi-speak- lenge posed by Western civilisation. like Rakesh. Manmohan and others
ing; marriages are arranged only And like the A r y a Samajis. they also in the space of two to three gene-
with the Panjabi-speaking Agra- sought it in a revival of Sanskrit rations.
wals. In inter-dining, however, they learning. Thus it is that we find a
are m u c h less strict than the other chain of D A V (Davanand Anglo- In so far as ritual is concerned,
Agrawals. They are also attached Vedic) schools and colleges and S D it led to the establishment and the
to Sanskrit r i t u a l , though to a les- (Sanatan Dharma) schools and col- enlargement of temples, in urban
MT extent. Many among them leges established in this area, where- areas. Large temples to various
look to liberal professions and be- in the study of Sanskrit was sought gods were built and the need for
came leaders of the Arya Samaj. to be encouraged. priests was in part filled by recruit-
But those who remained in trade ing Brahmins from U P Garhwal
and commerce, by and large, lent Some of the leaders of Arya am) elsewhere. Again, ceremonies
support to the Sanatan Dharma Samaj. however, found tin's type of like the celebration of Shraddhas
Sabha and thus helped spread the college-education inadequate, and began in a number of families with
influence of Sanskritisation. Though pleaded, following the teachings of Sanskrit-knowing Brahmins per-
Panjabi-speaking, they never came their Guru, for the establishment of forming the rites. It w i l l , there-
under Panjabi-influence in matters Gurukuls, where the method of an- fore, be clear that whatever Sans-
of religion.6 cient teachings was to be followed. krilisation came to the Panjab in
The Rishikuls established by the this manner, it was not due to the
Arya Samaj and Sanatan Dharma Sanatan Dharmis were a counter- leadership of the Brahmins. It is
W i t h the advent of the British move and some of them still exist. curious that out of the ten to twelve
rule in the Panjab started a new- The basic difference is the. exclusive Sanskrit scholars produced by Pan-
era, which brought in the Western emphasis on Vedic literature in the jab over the last fifty years. none
mode of education to the Panjab on former, and on both the Sruti and has been a Brahmin.
6 As regards the desire of the various Smriti literature in the latter. A l o n g
w i t h these steps, the Dharma-pra- We have already referred to the
social groups to claim a higher sta- chara of both the organisations led impact of the West on the revival
tus for themselves, it may he noted to an increasing awareness of an- of Sanskrit learning in the Panjab.
that it the Mahajans and Soods call cient values among the Hindus of We may now consider the influence
themselves Guptas (the Agrawals deny this areas. In so far as the Arya of more advanced provinces like
this claim)', the Agrawals claim to Samajis laid exclusive stress on Bengal and Maharashtra in this res-
he Kshatriyas, descended from Ugra- the vedic values (in both ritual and pect. The latter had come into con-
sena, father of Kamsa of Mathura. tact with the West earlier, had seen

411

March 4, 1961 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

412

THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY March 4, 1961

a revival of Sanskrit learning ear- tinued since then, experiencing cer- This trend towards Westernia-
lier, and were, towards the begin- tain ups and downs. Since the press tion, at least in externals, was quite
ning of the twentieth century, taking the cinema and the radio have played strong before the National move-
a leading part in the national move- their part in this process, they should ment had become really powerful. It
ment, which could not help being be kept in mind along with the in- was common to see young men i;
a movement for cultural revival as creased and increasing communica- colleges, sporting troupers, coats and
well. The ideas that took shape in tion between the various parts of the ties, though not sola topees. This
the sphere of culture in such places country by rail and road. We tendency towards the. adoption of
were those found in Sanskrit lite- should note that this area received Western dress was being kept in
rature. Being conceived and given relativelv greater attention in this check mainly because of the strong
shape by people very much aware respect because of its strategic im- hold of tradition and active propa-
of Western values, these ideas also portance to the alien rulers of India. ganda by revivalist organisations of
slowly made their way into the Another point to note here is the the various communities. But the
Panjab and led to a revival of in- relatively large number of persons first real check came in when Gan-
terest in ancient Indian culture. The belonging to the middle class in this d h i j i came on the scene and elec-
Upanishads in translation and simi- region. This was not due to larger trified the country by his appeal to
lar other texts now carne into public service or more industry, hut Swadeshi. Westernisation even in
vogue. One feature of this trend to the presence of a sturdy peasant externals received a strong set-back.
lay in its being accepted by the community owning their land and Gandhiji called for a bonfire of all
educated Hindu in general making a good living out of it as foreign cloth and apparel. Several
also to that of a prosperous mer- families discarded western dress for
To sum up: Sanskritisation in the cantile community. The decision of good, and the neck-tie became a
area under discussion, can be said the British to bring perennial irri- symbol of servitude. The increasing
to have come into being under the gation by means of a vast network tempo of the Freedom movement
impact of alien rule, in part in- of canals, gave further impetus to kept this tendency in check right
directly. It was not due to a desire this community and to trade, com- upto 1947.
of any social group to imitate the merce and industry associated there-
Brahmins who, by and large, held with. Impact of the National Movement
no leading position. Since the low
castes, mostly untouchables, were The first channel of Western in- The Western system of educa-
already beyond the pale of Hindu fluence. it will not be incorrect to tion. however, had come to stay-.
religion, there was no general de- say. was the legal profession. More- and though externals like the neck-
sire on their part to imitate the over. as the best way of getting to tic were no longer popular, its im-
Brahmins in matters of ritual. As the top of society was by mixing pact began to be felt in another
regards the Agrawals practising with the British officials, the West- direction. If the influence of the
Sanskrit values, their attachment ern mode of life came into vogue. magnetic personality of Jawaharlal
tame with them from their place of The colleges started earlier (the Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose
origin. Panjab University was founded was moving millions of youths, it
about 1885). imparted education has to be remembered that they were
This becomes understandable if along western lines and thus turned the products of England and mo-
we remember that culturally San- out young men land women) who dern European culture.
skrit influence has been but one of had read Shelley and Shakespeare,
tin- trends and at times it could not Dickens and Thackeray. The Caw In the political sphere the
have become the main trend. For a College and the Medical College advocacy of Socialism by these
few centuries t i l l the t h i r d quarter were soon added, and to surmount younger leaders, their identification
of the nineteenth century Persian the difficulty of long distances of India's cause with the struggled
influence had been the dominating (Peshawar was within the jurisdic- of other oppressed peoples (as
one in this area. (However, Jyoti- tion of the University at Lahore), those of Abyssinia. Spain), made
sha and Ayurveda seem to have been post-graduate classes were started at people aware of the futility of many
fairly prevalent during all these Peshawar and at Rawalpindi. The prohibitions ordained in the nam-
centuries.) various communities feeling the of the Sinistras. Thus in 1932,
need for their own colleges, spread Gandhiji went to London for the
Western Influences a net-work of denominational insti- Round Table Conference and wa-
tutions like the D A V. the S D the accompanied. among others, by
Western influences had started Khalsa and the Islamia colleges. Pandit Madau Mohan Malviya. who
coming into the Punjab even before The only no n-denominational col- for the sake of purity, took pots of
die British conquest in 1852. Ma- lege. Dyal Singh College was start Ganges water with him. But Hindu
haraja Ranjit Singh had a number ed. thanks to the munificience of opinion was no longer in a mood
of European soldiers and physicians. S Dyal Singh Majithia. an aristocrat, to consider Gandhiji a lesser Hindu
The missionaries had started coming who had become a Brahmo. (The on that account. As far as I rem-
earlier and a school run by them Pan jab owes to this great and gene- ember, the last person to perform
was established in Lahore early in rous man its only English daily a prayaschitra for going to England
die nineteenth century. ( I t later newspaper, a public library and a was a Raj Bahadur.
devloped into the Forman Chris- few other institutions). In this way
tian College). The influence of the province acquired a number of Such an altitude towards ritual
these visitors has proved to be long institutions along with a number nun have been helped by the fact
lasting. started by the Government. that Sanskritisation had
that time. struck deep roots. Be-
However, the process started in sides the orthodoxy due to this pro-
right earnest in the last quarter of cess was probably too tender to with,
the nineteenth century and has con-

March 4. 1961 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

stand the "'sweet reasonableness" of It can now be seen that Westerni- ever though he be incapable of con-
Gandhiji's arguments and the head- sation among Panjabi Hindus and d u c i n g the rites in Sanskrit. In fact
on attack of moderns like Nehru and Sikhs is not due to the lead of the Sanskritisation itself owes its propa-
Bose. It need hardly he pointed Brahmins or of any one social group gation to westernisation. Therefore
out that even Gandhiji had come as such. It is the rich and the mid- it may not be possible to postulate
under the influence of the West, dle-class people of this area who a gradation of Sanskiritisation-West-
although his genius had enabled him have given the lead for this way of ernisalion here. As regards the pre-
to find an 'Indian' answer to the life. As the roots of Sanskritisation, sent, it will be better to say that
challenge posed by the West. of respect for ritual values of Hindu Indianisation is at work; by it we
Weaned Away from Traditional Values religion,, were not very strong, nor mean Westernisation to a large ex-
deep, such values have had a very tent in externals and the re-assertion
First in the thirties and then, on short life. As regards Brahmanisa- of largely Indian values, mingled
an increasing scale, in the forties, tion and Sanskritisation, reformist with the humanitarian values of the
the attraction of Socialism and sects apart, the H i n d u of the Pan jab West in matters of spirit.
Communism weaned many bright prefers to have a Brahmin priest,
minds away from traditional values.
That in their enthusiasm they over-
stepped the. l i m i t , only underlines
the extent to which they discarded
orthodoxy. One strange result of the
increasing appeal of leaders like
Nehru and Bose, and of the young
and growing left-wing movements,
was the increasing vogue for West-
ern style dress, minus the neck-tie,
and this time, even the 1942 move-
ment could not check it.

An event of note was the last
World War I I , which took thou-
sands of young men and hundreds
of young women of middle-class
families all the way to Africa, Eu-
rope and East Asia. The standard
in the alien-run army was set by
the British officers, and the Indian
counterparts became thoroughly
anglicised in everything except
where national pride came in. That
Westernisation was the need of the
day was. a little later, admitted by
our leaders also when Netaji Bose
raised an army on exactly similar
lines. Westernisation had come to

stay.
Post-War Growth

The post-war years have seen an
uninhibited growth of westernisation
among these people, because the
fight with Britain being over, no
stigma attaches any more to being
westernised. But while in externals
we have accepted a great deal of
what is there to be had, the degree
of change in matters spiritual under
this influence is a moot point. The
educated class of this area seems to
be abreast of all developments and
it reacts quickly to every change.
If it can be said that India is trying
to find its feet in a new world, it
may be assumed that the reaction
among Panjab Hindus will not be
dissimilar to that elsewhere in the
country. If in India of today, the
stress is more on matters of spirit
(teachings of Upanishads, etc.), and
less and less on r i t u a l , the same can
be discerned here also.

414


Click to View FlipBook Version