Is Pune’s Culture under threat?

Before we start discussion, it is imperative to understanding what exactly culture is. Then and only then, would it possible for us to comprehend the arguments that we make regarding a specific culture.

Culture has always been interpreted in many ways. More commonly it is considered to be a about music, dance, drama, the way we dress, the way we eat, etc. Edward Taylor defines it in his book Primitive Culture (1871) as "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society."

Two other definitions of culture seem appropriate to quote here. "Culture...consists in those patterns relative to behavior and the products of human action which may be inherited, that is, passed on from generation to generation independently of the biological genes" (Parson, T. 1949, “Essays in Sociological Theory”. Glencoe, IL.p. 8). "Culture has been defined in a number of ways, but most simply, as the learned and shared behaviour of a community of interacting human beings" (Useem, J., & Useem, R. 1963 ‘Human Organizations”, p. 169).

There are three layers of culture viz. cultural traditions, sub cultures and universal cultures. The cultural traditions distinguish a specific society. They share language, traditions and beliefs. Sub-cultures happen in a diverse society where the traditions and beliefs are inter mixed giving rise to a new identifiable segment. Here people retain there original cultural traditions, yet become a part of new segment. The universal culture is about those common traits which are pervasive and are not differentiated. These are universal traits.

In our Monday morning meetings, Ashish asked all of us to predict the future. It was a waking up exercise on Monday morning, just before we start work. Some of the people expressed their concern for the culture of Pune. They were saying that with the growth happening in Pune, the city culture will die. One very interesting point came up from a colleague. He comes from a rural background. He said in villages, the number of smart people is 2 to 10. Hence whenever there is a problem, people go to these people and resolve the problem. in contrast in cities, he says the number of smart people is 9.45 of 10. As a result people never come listen to each other as everyone is smart (at least considers themselves to be smart).

I personally do not feel that the culture of Pune city is dying. I would say it is evolving. A number of sub cultures are emerging within the city because of cosmopolitization of the city. However the universal culture of the city is intact and will remain so. In fact it is the universal culture of the city that is drawing more people to the city.

Universal culture is an infectious phenomenon and everyone that comes in contact with it is positively affected by it. It will be worthwhile to understand the traits of this universal culture, which I will try doing some time.

In this globalized world, people are feeling more and more alienated. On one hand you are connected to millions of people and other hand you are completely alone, as if in a no man’s land. It is in this scenario that people start belonging to some culture or other. They look forward to an identity which will differentiate them from others. This can cause tension as well as cohesion. The challenge will always be to reduce the tension and improve cohesion.