Do we need these Traditions at all? (Traditions VS Modernization)

February was a full on month indeed! Another incredible experience for me – I got to attend a traditional Indian wedding. Many of you would know, such weddings last for days, require great amount of planning, various resources and the will of bride and groom to go through it actually (if they even could anticipate the reality). This particular wedding lasted for three days and included such traditional rituals as Haldi and Mehndi and the big reception, of course. However, there were so many more details and customs coming from both families of the bride and the groom. I want to highlight that the whole event was incredibly impressive, especially for the person outside that culture: all the details, dresses and other outfits, girls’ make-up, all the designs – simply immaculate! Once I asked about other traditions that were going on behind the scenes and the younger generation ladies did not really know all the details, responding to me that “it is what older generations do”. My friend tried to explain that according to one of her family’s tradition, women need to go in the field and collect some earth/sand/mud and also plant in something (I apologize in advance for my vague explanation of this part, some terminology was used as well that I could not quite understand clearly, thus my memory did not grasp this better, unfortunately). I also learnt that these traditions carry value throughout generations, they evolve and acquire more details on the way etc. It is complex, but I hope you got the gist. Have you been there? No wonder that India is amongst the countries with the lowest divorce percentage (i.e. 1%, comparing to the 66% in Luxemburg; although some other factors could be contributing to that too - https://www.dailyo.in/variety/india-has-the-lowest-divorce-rate-in-the-world-5-reasons-why-its-not-a-good-thing-29213). Well, it prompted me to think about the topic of traditions verses modernization, in various aspects of our lives, not only weddings. One might ask – do we really need to keep all these traditions?

Have you ever asked yourself or did any analysis to understand whether you yourself is a traditionalist or more of a modernist? Possibly, there is a healthy mix of both in your life? You might use the latest iPhone and still prefer reading physical printed books. Of course, one does not necessarily exclude another, and in some way they can complement each other. For example, I use WhatsApp, but there is something special about hand-written letters, I still save some from my grandmother, they have a huge sentimental value for me (maybe can compare with the price of precious diamonds for some). Another example can be derived from manufacturing – would you prefer solid hand-made furniture, that possibly was even refurbished, or would you go for a more IKEA-like/mass-marketed one? So, does it mean traditional things might actually have higher value nowadays? Why so? Or not at all?

Some people are spending their live time in order to collect and document certain traditions, within different social, geographical, or professional circles. Well, realistically, some traditions are bound to die with time, due to lack of adoption, change of core values in that circle, or due to some natural disasters that are out of our control. So why to capture and preserve the traditions at all?

Now, in the world of global digitalization, one might ask why would we even care about some of the outdated traditions that are complex, rigid and sometimes carry uneducated methods? Depending on your background, you may or may not agree, or might propose your own response. One thing for certain is that we cannot possibly accept or reject ALL the traditions, but how do you sort them out? Let us consider some approaches towards traditions, depending on the people’s background:

1.??????Where do you live and do you plan to stay there for the rest of your life or planning to immigrate elsewhere?

Of course, if you live in your country of birth, you might be already fairly familiar with many of the traditions of your people, somehow refined by your own family customs. However, more and more I meet people who were born in country X, but live in country Y and see the potential to immigrate to country Z for whatever reason. Obviously, in this case such person would have to adapt quickly and internalize the traditions of the people of the current country that he/she is living in. The chances are that this is going to be a life-long learning. Let us define this type as active acceptance of external traditions.

2.??????What if your background and beliefs are incompatible at all with some of the traditions in the world (e.g. different religions)?

The example here could be how often you can see that the people with common religious beliefs tend to stick together and form a community based on these beliefs. In this case, even in a new country you could find “your community”. The community are likely to preserve the traditions better than a person individually would ever do. Even though these traditions would be internal to person’s mind, the traditions are encouraged, enhanced and strengthened within the community. In this vein, the person does not need to learn anything drastically different to what he/she knows already. We could call it passive acceptance of internal traditions.

3.??????Would you keep following some of the traditions despite your locations or surrounding?

It is very common that some international students come to the UK for 1-5 years to study and change their lifestyle, deviating from the traditions and customs. As they stop being a part of the community within their own country, some find it much more difficult to follow, or in fact, some are relieved to be able not to follow some of those traditions. Ultimately, such people choose their own pathway with a combination of various traditional approaches that they believe to be working for themselves. This view could be described as evolutionary selective adoption/rejection of traditions.

You might come up with your own examples and classification. But why do we need to understand such approaches? Well, for one, traditions are inseparable from people, their evolution, their journey, learning process etc. Hence, any person who has a background is likely to carry some traditions within him/her self, sometimes inseparable from their personality. From the individual level, moving up to the community and social level, you are likely to see some variations to the way traditions are accepted/rejected, how they evolve within certain circles etc. Some might say this is how modernization is happening. How would you innovate something effectively, if you do not know traditions? This indeed makes them invaluable, priceless…

This topic is extremely vast and could be reviewed from different perspectives. Let us come back to it later and assess the evolved arguments on this matter. Please feel free to share your thoughts on it too, more perspectives allow for better visibility.?