CULTURE OF INDIA

The culture of India (or) Indian culture can

be best expressed as comprising the
following
Humanity - The mildness of the Indians
has continued till date, despite the
aggressiveness of the Muslim conquerors
and the reforming zeal of the British, the
Portuguese and the Dutch. The Indians
are noted for their humanness and calm
nature without any harshness in their
principles and ideals.
Tolerance - Gandhijis satyagraha principle
or Ahimsa - freedom without taking a drop
of blood, worked wonders and gave credit
to India in the international arena. Swami
Vivekananda in his famous Chicago Speech on the 11th of September, 1893 spoke of this.
Unity - India is a conglomeration of men and women of various castes and creed. It is a fusion of old traditional
values and the modern principles, thus satisfying all the three generations in the present India. The Elite
businessman and the common vendor on the road share the same news and worship the same deity .
Secularism - India is a secular coun country as stated in its Constitution. There is freedom of worship throughout the
length and breadth of India without any breeches or violations of any others religious beliefs. The Hindus, The
Muslims, The Christians, and The Sikhs in times of calamity and during festivities come openly together to share
their thoughts despite their religious affinities. The catholicity of the Indian culture can be best understood by the
fact that hundreds of Hindus visit the Velankanni shrine or the Nagore Dargah in Tamilnadu.
Closely knit Social system - The Indian Social System is mostly based on the Joint family System, but for some of the
recently cropped nuclear families. The families are closely knit with Grandfathers, fathers, sons and grandsons
sharing the same spirit, tradition and property.
Indias one billion people have descended from a variety of races. The oldest ones are the Negroid aboriginals
called the Adivasis or First settlers. Then there are the Dravidians, The Aryans, the Mongols, The Semites and
innumerable inter-mixtures of one with the other.
The great Epic, The Mahabharata and the sacred text, the Bhagavad-Gita teaches the Indians that survival can only
be in terms of quality of life. It provides a framework of values to make the Indian culture well- groomed.
Swami Vivekananda (1863- 1902) laid stress on physical development as a prerequisite for spiritual development,
which in turn leads to the development of the culture of the country. For the past 1000 years various foreign
invasions like that of the Huns, the Kushanas, The Arabs, The Muslims, TheDutch, The French and the British took
place. So the Indians were exposed to cultures that were totally alien to them. Several attempts were made by the
Indian rulers like the Pallavas, the Chalukyas, the Palas, the Rashtrakutas, the Cholas, and the Vijayanagar
Emperors to give the Indians an administration, which was in consonance with the cultural heritage of the country.
Later, religions became an important part in the culture and places of worship became community centers. The
innovations in religious thinking brought two popular beliefs in India, namely Buddhism by the Buddha and Jainism
by the Saint Mahavir. Then there was a socio-religious shift or orientation in the Indian culture.
If Indias culture tended to become tolerant, accommodating, open-minded, deeply but not ostensibly spiritual and
concerned with the common human welfare, then it is due to the great and relentless efforts of our great ancestors

and leaders. Thanks to them our country has achieved a common culture, despite a staggering pluralistic society

NEOCLASSICISM

Nicolas Poussin, Et in Arcadia Ego, 163738, oil on canvas, 185 cm 121 cm (72.8 in 47.6 in)
(Louvre)

In opposition to the frivolous sensuality of Rococo painters like Jean-Honor Fragonard and Franois
Boucher, the Neoclassicists looked back to the French painter Nicolas Poussin for their inspiration (Poussin's
work exemplifies the interest in classicism in French art of the 17th century ). The decision to promote
"Poussiniste" painting became an ethical considerationthey believed that strong drawing was rational,
therefore morally better. They believed that art should be cerebral, not sensual.
The Neoclassicists, such as Jacques-Louis David (pronounced Da-VEED), preferred the welldelineated formclear drawing and modeling (shading). Drawing was considered more important than
painting. The Neoclassical surface had to look perfectly smoothno evidence of brush-strokes should be
discernable to the naked eye.

France was on the brink of its first revolution in 1789, and the Neoclassicists wanted to express a
rationality and seriousness that was fitting for their times. Artists like David supported the rebels through an art
that asked for clear-headed thinking, self-sacrifice to the State (as in Oath of the Horatii) and an austerity
reminiscent of Republican Rome.

Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the

Horatii, 1784 (salon of 1785) oil on canvas, 3.3 x
4.25m (Louvre)

Neo-classicism was a child of the Age of Reason (the Enlightenment), when philosophers believed that we
would be able to control our destinies by learning from and following the laws of nature (the United States was
founded on Enlightenment philosophy). Scientific inquiry attracted more attention. Therefore, Neoclassicism
continued the connection to the Classical tradition because it signified moderation and rational thinking but in a
new and more politically-charged spirit (neo means new, or in the case of art, an existing style reiterated
with a new twist.)

Neoclassicism is characterized by clarity of form, sober colors, shallow space, strong horizontal and verticals
that render that subject matter timeless (instead of temporal as in the dynamic Baroque works), and Classical
subject matter (or classicizing contemporary subject matter).

Francis Poulenc

Born: 1899
Died: 1963
Nationality: French
Publisher: Chester Music
One of the great melodists of the twentieth century, Poulenc was largely self-taught as a composer. In the
early 1920s he belonged to the Paris-based group of composers Les Six who led the neo-classical movement,
rejecting the overstated emotion of Romanticism. Following the death of a clse friend in the 1930s, Poulenc
rediscovered his Roman Catholic faith and replaced the ironic nature of neo-classicism with a new-found
spiritual depth. By his own admission, Poulenc was no revolutionary, yet the transparent simplicity of much of
his output, particularly his vocal and chamber music, places it alongside the finest of the century.

GEORGE GERSHWIN
Born on September 26, 1898, in Brooklyn, New York, George Gershwin
dropped out of school and began playing piano professionally at age 15.
Within a few years, he was one of the most sought after musicians in
America. A composer of jazz, opera and popular songs for stage and screen,
many of his works are now standards. Gershwin died immediately following
brain surgery on July 11, 1937, at the age 38.
George Gershwin was born Jacob Gershowitz on September 26, 1898, in
Brooklyn, New York. The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, George began
foray into music at age 11 when his family bought a secondhand piano for
Georges older sibling, Ira.

his

Throughout his 23-year career, Gerswhin would continually seek to expand the breadth of his influences,
studying under an incredibly disparate array of teachers, including Henry Cowell, Wallingford Riegger, Edward
Kilenyi and Joseph Schillinger.
After dropping out of school at age 15, Gershwin played in several New York nightclubs and began his stint as a
song-plugger in New Yorks Tin Pan Alley.
After three years of pounding out tunes on the piano for demanding customers, he had transformed into a highly
skilled and dexterous composer. To earn extra cash, he also worked as a rehearsal pianist for Broadway singers.
In 1916, he composed his first published song, When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em; When You Have 'Em,
You Don't Want 'Em.
From 1920 to 1924, Gershwin composed for an annual production put on by George White. After a show titled
Blue Monday, the bandleader in the pit, Paul Whiteman, asked Gershwin to create a jazz number that would
heighten the genres respectability.
Legend has it that Gershwin forgot about the request until he read a newspaper article announcing the fact that
Whitemans latest concert would feature a new Gershwin composition. Writing at a manic pace in order to meet
the deadline, Gershwin composed what is perhaps his best-known work, Rhapsody in Blue.
During this time, and in the years that followed, Gershwin wrote numerous songs for stage and screen that
quickly became standards, including Oh, Lady Be Good! Someone to Watch over Me, Strike Up the
Band, Embraceable You, Lets Call the Whole Thing Off and They Cant Take That Away from Me. His
lyricist for nearly all of these tunes was his older brother, Ira, whose witty lyrics and inventive wordplay
received nearly as much acclaim as Georges compositions.
In 1935, a decade after composing Rhapsody in Blue, Gershwin debuted his most ambitious composition,
Porgy and Bess. The composition, which was based on the novel Porgy by Dubose Heyward, drew from
both popular and classical influences. Gershwin called it his folk opera, and it is considered to not only be
Gershwins most complex and best-known works, but also among the most important American musical
compositions of the 20th century.
Following his success with Porgy and Bess, Gershwin moved to Hollywood and was hired to compose the
music for a film titled Shall We Dance, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It was while working on a
follow-up film with Astaire that Gershwins life would come to an abrupt end.
In the beginning of 1937, Gershwin began to experience troubling symptoms such as severe headaches and
noticing strange smells.
Doctors would eventually discover that he had developed a malignant brain tumor. On July 11, 1937, Gershwin
died during surgery to remove the tumor. He was only 38.