The importance of tradition and transformation

The importance of tradition and transformation

Tradition means an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (as a religious practice or a social custom); a belief or story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are commonly accepted as historical though not verifiable. Transformation means an act, process, or instance of transforming or being transformed which in turn means to change in composition or structure or to change the outward form or appearance or to change in character or condition.

In today’s world, it is the right time to talk about the importance of tradition and transformation which have a perennial impact on human life. The recent fallout of globalization which saw America had an impact of total transformation where the economy had gone bust and the world renowned banks and financial institutions fell like a pack of cards. Strangely India did not undergo this unwanted transformation only because of the great visionaries sitting in the central bank of the country that is the Reserve Bank of India. This is only because India has followed the golden median of tradition and transformation.

Going by these words, we can find an Indian techie well versed in all the latest languages of the computers having the picture of a god and a goddess as a screensaver on his desktop. But at the same time, we also can see a poor fisherman or a laborer using the mobile phone for the sake of communication. This is a beautiful example of tradition and transformation in India. Indian agriculture over a period of time has followed only a tradition and did not undergo transformation. The reason for this can be discussed at a different forum. But it is true to say that Indian agriculture is undergoing the doldrums only because it did not undergo the transformation needed for its development. Hence we can see still the bullock carts in the villages which have been the backbone of Indian agriculture some hundred years ago. The leaders of the country did not see a vision in development of agriculture and if the same thing continues it may not be a surprise that India may have to import food grains from foreign countries for feeding its huge population. It is for sure if the latest agricultural techniques are implemented in the field of agriculture, we can have another green revolution having its impact for the next hundred years. This is a great example of the importance of the median between the tradition and transformation.

It is said that India lives in its villages. But, the policy makers sitting in the power corridors without understanding the importance of agriculture in Indian economy have of late gone for SEZ (special economic zones) for converting the agricultural lands for establishing industries, the future of which is not definite which has been a cause for social skirmishes and thereby causing unwanted social disturbances. A livid example for this is Nandigram in west Bengal. If there are more Nandigrams like this there will be more skirmishes in the rural areas permanently spoiling the required peace and tranquility in the rural areas.

Even in personal life if somebody follows the tradition and undertakes the transformation that is required for development, he can never be a failure. In Indian tradition, gold is supposed to be the best investment and today you can see even the best financial consultant suggesting you to invest in gold or gold bonds or any other instrument that is laced with gold. The economy may go bust, the stock market may turn bearish, the bubble of sub prime lending may burst, but, the tradition of investing in gold will never make you loose.

More than 70% of India’s population lives in its 6 lakh villages.