India: a blend of west and the orient

   Many westerners imagine Asia as an exotic place, with strange traditions and customs. They called it the orient. Its true that the orient had its own features and way of thinking.For example historians say most of the Asian cultures were agrarian and lived in sophisticated populous society. So the east tends to give family, elders and society much more importance than of the west. however with in the Asian cultures there are sticking difference between them, which the west often fails to recognize.

 The Indian way of thinking is a mixture of the far eastern and western way of thinking. Because it has elements from both east and west. Let me explain this with two examples.

As I have said earlier Asian civilizations where more populous and they lived in a agrarian society. From the very old days, they had to cooperate with each other,whether its sharing of rainwater for irrigation or labor for harvesting the crop. They practiced agriculture collectively and a sophisticated society and social structure evolved from from the early days. But in the ancient Greece the population was much small and they practiced agriculture individually. Researchers say this is the reason why Asians give much more importance to family and society. Just like the other eastern countries, Indians practiced sophisticated agriculture from the ancient time. So in India, people regard family and society very important.

Now let me tell you what makes India different from East and more similar to West. In the East people are more contended with the present or they are just happy with what they have. They do not take risk in life. This is probably because of the influence of Confucianism. But in India generations grew up hearing the stories of Mahabharata and Ramayana, of heroes and their heroism. In the west it was Homer's Iliad and Odyssey that inspired the people. Moreover there are many other similarities between the ancient Indian and Greek Civilization. So just like the West Indians are more likely to take risk in life and attempt heroic or adventurous acts. The number of entrepreneurs in India exemplifies this.


Hope this was a new knowledge for you guys. I would be happy to hear your opinion about this. Please leave a comment.