Westernization of India Essay Example

Westernization of India Essay Over the years the civilizations of the world have adopted many of the West’s styles and ways of life. This â€Å"Westernization† has started a downward spiral in destroying the cultural diversity of the world. As one of the oldest nations in the sense of tradition and culture, India has been a land of sages, saints and various renowned scholars. Countless religious temples and shrines built in different parts of the nation expose the devotion to religion and family that dwells within all aspects of India’s culture. Everything was steady for India until a few decades back. Most of the people were farmers and survived on their pieces of land. They were satisfied with their earning and hardly had any time to think further. As a result tradition was in touch and people were in harmony with the Indian tradition. Mahatmas Gandhi understood the importance of these traditions and recognized the greatest hope for the continuation of them rely in the villages. Mahatma Gandhi was a champion of swadeshi, or home economy. People outside India know of Gandhis campaigns to end British colonialism, but this was only a small part of his struggle. The greater part of Gandhis work was to renew Indias vitality and regenerate its culture. Gandhi was not interested simply in exchanging rule by white sahibs for rule by brown sahibs; he wanted the government to surrender much of its power to local villages. As the time passed by and India got independence, the scenario started changing slowly and gradually. Westernization started attracting the Indian citizens towards it like a magnet. The desires of the western world engrossed the masses of Indians striving to mimic the lifestyle and comforts of the â€Å"rich life†. We will write a custom essay sample on Westernization of India specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Westernization of India specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Westernization of India specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The intoxication of westernization was so powerful that people started to get carried away with it. The things were new, tempting, and foreign to the people, yet blind to their desires they failed to see that these things might become their habit some day and deviate them from their genuine goods and culture that India once held to be its crown jewel. The greed engulfs the eyes of the Indian Government which spills into the society like a river, causing the people to relinquish themselves to western way of life, even at the cost of forgetting their own rich traditions. In an excerpt from the book â€Å"The Third World† by Paul Harrison, called â€Å"the westernized world†, the emphasis is laid on social and cultural aspects. He debates â€Å"The under development of the third world and its people cannot be compartmentalized, if it is to be fully grasped. It is a situation in which every element plays a part. The nations of the third world are very dissimilar, but still, there are some similarities. † Harrison uses the idea of third world to observe these dissimilarities. Harrison recounts a real life experience. A traditional opera, shown in Singapore is watched by the elderly people and the children only. The younger audience, he was being told, found it too old fashioned. They favored western music to this old fashioned opera. The youth of any third world nation, has a thirst for `something that is western. This could be anything from clothing, music, entertainment shows, or every day habits and styles. Harrisons continues to express how â€Å"The mimicry extends to architecture, industrial technology, approaches to health care, education and housing. † The nations of the third world have their own identity, which is unique in many ways. Why then do the people forget their own identity and develop a never ending obsession for western way of life? Why do countless countries follow the European way of life, even at the cost of destroying their own traditional and cultural values? In Harrison’s mind â€Å"It is the most pervasive example of what historians call cultural diffusion in the history of mankind†. One of the major reason for such submissive mentality , is colonization . Europeans never were and are ready to accept that â€Å"native cultures could be in any way , materially , morally or spiritually , be superior to their own. This insatiable determination to save third-world countries and bring them to a level respectable in the western world has sparked the desire for a falsely painted idea that money and stuff brings happiness. The idea that the least work one has to do while making the most profit is the solution to the issues we face every day. This idea has caused the Indian government and s ociety to fall into the melting pot of greed and social labels. Westernization in India has caused many people to reject their traditional style of clothing and alter their daily life to conform to the styles of the Western part of the world. Families whose tradition it was to work on a farm and support themselves are now having to flee to the cities to find work due to their inability to survive with the low money they earn. By introducing the multitude of objects and eases of the western world the Indian culture has adopted the totalitarian system very familiar to the western world, one fueled by money and ego controlled by few members of India’s population. For Gandhi, the spirit and the soul of India rested in the village communities. He said, The true India is to be found not in its few cities, but in its seven hundred thousand villages. If the villages perish, India will perish too. Swadeshi is a program for long-term survival. Regardless of the few Indians who held steady to the idea that life worked better when the laziness of western comforts were out of the picture, the masses quickly pivoted India into a new direction deemed worthy by western eyes. Mahatma Gandhi held true to his notion that with new values instilled by the colonization and westernization of India the people of India are doomed to slowly rid themselves of these traditions that were once kept dear. Someone once asked Gandhi, What do you think of Western civilization? He simply responded, It would be a good idea. For Gandhi a civilization that rests on the support of machines was no civilization at all. A society in which workers are a slave to labor at the side of conveyor belts, in which animals were treated heartlessly in factory farms, and in which economic movement unavoidably lead to ecological devastation, could not be conceived of as a civilization. Its citizens could only end up as neurotics; the natural world would inevitably be transformed into a desert, and its cities into concrete jungles. The manufacturers, the entrepreneurs, and the intellectuals in collusion with the government see India as part of the global economy working hand in glove with the multinational corporations. As Mahatma Gandhi projected, India’s politic body is seething with corruption. The gap between the poor and the rich is getting thicker and thicker while the poor are poorer than ever, and the growing middle classes are turning away from the Congress Party. The farmers are agitated to find no hope in competition with the seeds patented by multinational companies. The undeniable corruption that permeates the money and society that been forming in India since English colonization is reaching the brink. The people of India, among whom the teachings of Gandhi are still very much alive, will react against it and will return to swadeshi for the reenchantment of their local culture, their community, and their lives. In fact, the lessons of swadeshi may bring hope for an economics of permanence even among Westerns, once the fraudulent promise of economic growth and industrialism is exposed. Mahatma Gandhi, known as the ‘Father of the Nation’ attempted to revive the public from obsessing over western things. He initiated a ‘Swadeshi Movement’, highlighting the use of commodities manufactured in the India contrived of its own raw material. He requested people to make use of ‘Khadi clothes’ so that British cloth did not form a monopoly within the market. It has served as a boon for the Indian manufacturing unit and would provide more employment for the poverty-stricken people. Though it was a great move initiated by Gandhi, the seeds of westernization were so deep sown that after the death of Gandhi the Indian scenario totally changed. India got freedom, and elite group from India started following British trends and implementing them in the nation as well. As a result general public also started following it. Thus drifting the Indian people, culture and traditions towards the world of westernization. Works Cited 1. Gandhi, M. K. Ghandi: an Autobiography: the Story of My Experiments with Truth. Boston: Beacon, 1957. Print. 2. Gandhi, Mahatma. The Essential Gandhi: an Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work and Ideas. Ed. Louis Fischer. New York: Vintage, 2002. Print. 3. Harrison, Paul. Inside the Third World: the Anatomy of Poverty. London: Penguin, 1993. Print.

Spanish Phrases Using Sangre

Spanish Phrases Using Sangre Blood has long been a symbol of life, so it shouldnt come as a surprise that the Spanish word for blood, sangre, makes itself into a wide variety of phrases, many of which have little to do with blood in a literal sense. One such phrase - sangre azul, meaning blue blood - has even made its way into English in the form of blue-blooded. As a term referring to someone from higher social levels, the Spanish phrase originally referred to the visible blood veins of people with fair complexion. The following are some of the most common sangre phrases along with an example each of their usage. Alguien in these phrases means someone, while algo means something. Spanish Phrases Referring To Blood chuparle a alguien la sangre (literally, to suck the blood out of someone): to bleed someone dry. El sector pà ºblico es el drcula que chupa la sangre de este paà ­s. The public sector is the Dracula that is bleeding this country dry.helar la sangre (literally, to freeze the blood): to scare stiff, to curdle the blood. No es una gran pelà ­cula pero tiene un montà ³n de sustos y uno en concreto me helà ³ la sangre. It isnt a great film, but it has a ton of frightening moments and one of them in particular scared me spitless.No llegà ³ la sangre al rà ­o (literally, the blood didnt arrive at the river): Things didnt get all that bad. Pero no llegà ³ la sangre al rà ­o y con el paso de los meses, Federico volvià ³ a casa. But it didnt turn out all that bad, and with the passage of the months, Federico returned home.llevar algo en la sangre (literally, to carry something in the blood): to have something in ones blood. Mi hijo lleva la mà ºsica en la sangre. My son has music i n his blood.quemar la sangre a alguien (literally, to scald someones blood): to make someones blood boil; to cause someone to be extremely angry. Me quemaba la sangre cuando salà ­ del cine. My blood was boiling when I left the movie theater. (The verb encender can be used instead of quemar.) de sangre caliente: warm-blooded. Con algunas excepciones, todos los mamà ­feros y aves son de sangre caliente. With some exceptions, all mammals and birds are warm-blooded.de sangre frà ­a: cold-blooded. No se sabe si los pterosaurios eran animales de sangre frà ­a. It is unknown whether pterosaurs were cold-blooded animals.de sangre ligera (literally, thin-blooded): having a likable personality. Aquà ­ descubrir el espà ­ritu jovial de los habitantes, gente de sangre ligera que vive con una actitud positiva. Here you will discover the cheerful spirit of the inhabitants, a likable people who live with a positive attitude. (This term is used primarily in Central and South America. The opposite term is de sangre pesada.)sudar sangre: to sweat blood, to put forth an extraordinary effort. Te prometo que sudarà © sangre, si es necesario, para llevarte hacia mi lado. I promise you that I will sweat blood, if necessary, to bring you to my side.tener mala sangre (literally, to have ba d blood): to have bad intentions, to be evil. Se necesita tener mala sangre para crear un virus destructivo. You have to be malicious to create a destructive virus. tener sangre de horchata (literally, to have the blood of horchata, a beverage often made from almonds, rice or tiger nuts): to be extremely calm, to have no feelings, to have the blood of a turnip. Normalmente en este tipo de situaciones tiene sangre de horchata. Normally under these circumstances hes very calm. (In some regions, the word atole, a corn-based drink, is used.)no tener sangre en las venas. (literally, to not have blood in the veins): for someone to not have any life (usually used figuratively in reference to emotions). El que pueda permanecer imperturbable y no baile con esta seleccià ³n es porque no tiene sangre en las venas. Anyone who can just stay still and not dance to this piece doesnt have any life in him.

Challenging behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Challenging behaviour - Essay Example There are numerous theories that explain the causes of challenging behaviours among children. The first theory that helps in understanding challenging behaviour among children is the behavioural theory that asserts that behaviour is a result of the learning environment (Prizant, Audet and Burke, 1990, p 184). According o this theory, reinforcements such as rewards and sanctions will either make the behaviour gain strength or disappear. Behavioural perspective assumes that negative reinforcements will reduce the intensity and frequency of the challenging behaviour. According to the theory, children visualize, imagine, and respond to the external stimuli (Papatheodorou, 2005).   Psychodynamic perspective assumes that challenging behaviour results from unconscious conflicts that the children are unaware of their existence (Porter, 2003). The attachment patterns will continue to have an impact on the future development of the child while in school. Stories and play can enable the child to process the unconscious conflicts thus reducing the frequency of the challenging behaviour (Prizant, Audet and Burke, 1990, p 187). The theory suggests that children will be able to alter challenging behaviour soon they become aware of their consciousness (Porter, 2003).The third theory that explains the cause of challenging behaviour is the biopsychosocial theory that asserts that behaviour results from brain growth and genetic factors. The biopsychosocial perspective also entails social, family and health factors. that contribute to the occurrence of challenging behaviours among the children. The model assumes that children are born with certain temperamental constitution that is biological and provides the genetic basis of the child’s personality (Walker-Hall and Sylva, 2001). Although the unique temperament of the child remains stable through out the life span, the exhibited behaviours change with time due to the influence of the social environment thus leading to sup pression of some challenging behaviours. Some of the temperamental factors include the child’s activity level, stubbornness, sensory threshold, and adaptability to new activities (Ayers, Clarke and Murry, 2000). According to the humanistic theory, self-concept attainment is responsible for children behaviours. The theory asserts that the immediate environment should nurture the emotional