Traditions

Traditions. They are a funny thing. And a very controversial topic, I understand. Traditions are like non veg food. People who don’t eat it call it a violation of life, people who do...just call it the food chain. Having been on both sides of the table, I see the validity of both points. In places which are too cold or too dry to even grow grass, how can you possibly survive without eating meat. And in places which have a rich harvest of grains, fruits & vegetables, why would you eat meat??!!

And that’s my point exactly when it comes to tradition. Its all about context. Traditions, rituals, rules they are all made to give structure & system to a society. To prevent chaos & anarchy. So caste system was started to divide work load amongst different sections of the society. Even the Bhagvad Gita says it pretty clearly, that its purely work based. Not by birth, but occupation. But look at India today. Caste system is still so ingrained in the very DNA of the entire country that its tough breaking away from it even for the educated, so called “modern” people who don’t even believe in this system themselves; or at least claim so.

The politicians keep the system alive because it gives them votes. Upper classes keep it alive because it gives them, in their eyes, societal respect. Lower classes keep it alive because it gives them reservations. So in theory, everyone should be happy with it, isn’t it. Yet no one really is. Everyone complains about it. Because they are not happy with the privileges, societal or governmental, that the “other” side gets.

And to be honest that’s just a case in point. Any tradition, most traditions in fact, are designed to suit a certain time, a certain need of the society at that time. Once that need passes, they should be allowed to change. But more often than not, people just get too tied to their traditions to see that. They become too ensconced in their comfort zone to want to change. Thats the only life they know and they are afraid to step out. Fear of the unknown. And may be sometimes thats fine. After all they do say the known devil is better than the unknown one. But sometimes the unknown is not a devil and you would not know that until you stepped out & tried.

But such times and such traditions just yield 2 types of people.

Rebels who usually then end up going to the other extreme just to have their way to make a point; or just get fed up and leave to a place where they are not needed to conform.

Or ; People who are perhaps neither foolish nor courageous enough to be rebels; and hence find a way to compromise. Sometimes their dreams are formed from the early days of childhood by their parents to shape within the strict confines of their “social traditions” and sometimes , even if they dare to dream, they give them up at some point. To be frank I think it’s less cruel if they just don’t dare. Because otherwise they live forever with a wistful glance back at lost dreams. And while some find a way to be content. Others just become frustrated, spiteful and hostile towards anyone who has "more" than they do, more freedom, wealth or even..contentment.

But the worst part still is, that strangely enough, these same people, who lost their own dreams at the hands of outdated traditions, a lot of times, hold back the dreams of the next generation. In the name of tradition.