INDIA IN THE PAST AND TODAY

INDIA IN THE PAST AND TODAY

There have been numerous debates regarding the decline of Indian culture that subject being more relevant today than ever. Along centuries India flourished and declined like many other cultures of the world. However, there has to be mentioned that some cultures of the world have been completely extinguished, but the Indian culture managed to survive no matter how bad has been damaged. As history ascertains, the cultural destruction of India occurred during and after great violence, invasions and other forms of foreign interventions having the aim to conquer a territory and enslave its population.

For India particularly this happened at the beginning of the second millennium when foreign invasions have produced considerable destruction. Since then India never recovered as one foreign power was replaced by another the last foreign legacy being that of the British Empire. Hundreds of years of oppression and foreign rule have marked considerable the Indian way of life and the whole cultural structure of the population. It will suffice to mention the endemic poverty and wide spread corruption and violence, just to mention a few of the sicknesses of the big giant that India is in terms of population, territory and natural resources. In short India the way is seen by sociologists and the common man is a big sick giant.

The last colonial legacy that of the British Raj is a paradox in as far as a colonial power that was a monarchy has left behind a secular society that really struggles to find its way to the surface. This legacy is practically left behind from the known British politics of dividing forces that wanted to conquer. India was a good ground for the colonial power to divide the internal forces thus believing that it can continue to be master of the land. But the political configuration was in such a way that India managed to force the conquerors out of the country, but the legacy of division remained. The British administration that was indeed very efficient left behind a population that was not accustomed to the European style of democracy of Greek and Roman origin, but to the royal kind of administration. Small pockets of the royal tradition have survived in the country, but they do not have effective political power that used to be in the past. In short the system of royal rule and administration was practically wiped out and replaced with the experiment of democratic rule of European style. What has all of these to do with Ramayana? It has to do a lot. This is mainly because Lord Rama was a king and during his reign his kingdom was prosperous and justice was properly administered. That historical time was named Rama Raja- "Kingship of Lord Rama", an ideal royal leadership that produced happiness and a dignified life for all subjects involved. Ramayana itself describes the idyllic past thus the work is more relevant in the present than ever.
Today the state of affairs of the country in India is very bad indeed. Centuries of foreign rule and occupation have left a legacy of poverty and despair. Large groups in the society are practically neglected, there is a spread of corruption and lawlessness that most of the population has lost hope that the divine exists, let alone that it will ever intervene to establish order and justice. However, the most enduring Indian spirit still exists and hope is not entirely lost.