CHRONOLOGICAL SNOBBERY IN INDIA

Chronological snobbery is 'the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own
age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited. The
present essay deals with entire ideas and objects of India that have been cast aside too lightly today
on account of the ancient age in which they had developed...

I. Introduction

Contemporary India is a melting pot of cultures, and richly endowed with fascinating traditions, lore
and history. As with many other countries, several instances of chronological snobbery exists in
India, that has resulted in social and economic costs. As a citizen of India, I attempt to outline
instances of chronological snobbery drawn from social, economic, and educational spheres within
my country, and describe some of the reasons for accepting these artefacts blindly, and meekly. I
also analyse the resultant economic and social costs, and examine their applicability to the global
population.

II. Chronological snobbery in the social sphere - I: The abandonment of the joint family system

A joint family is one where children live along with their grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins
apart from their parents. In India, it is patriarchy-based, and has been a traditional form of family
organization for centuries. It constitutes the linear descendants of a typically old male member,
women bowed by ties of marriage to these male members, their sons, and unmarried daughters (for
the married daughters are gifted away, by tradition, to another joint family). The joint family is a
tradition among Hindus, who have constituted more than 80 percent of the Indian population since
the period of Hindu synthesis between 500 B.C and 300 A.D. Thus, the joint family in India as old as
the Hindu culture.

Take the case of Farmer X, who is the head of a Hindu joint family in the 1960’s and is in possession
of a 8.05 acre field and a large, inherited home. Each of his five sons A, B, C, D and E and two
daughters F and G are entitled to an equal share of the land. Since they all live in a common
household, most of the members of his family are involved in the production of grain in the
sufficiently big farm, although some of the family members are additionally employed in the textile
industry. The household work and child caring responsibilities were shared between the womenfolk,
some of whom went to work and thus were busier than the others. The income generated by all
family members, farming and otherwise, was pooled under X and spent according to the needs of
each member. Thus X’s son A whose child studies in an engineering college in the city, is allowed
more expense than son B, who worked equally hard on the field, but whose daughter (“m”) works in
the sari shop. X and his wife received an upper hand in all decisions and were quite satisfied with
their lives.

Unfortunately, m’s sari shop closed down and soon she received an offer from an industry in the
city. So did the sons of C and D- the effect of high urbanisation levels and competition given by cities,
whose population growth level in India rose from 11.4% to 31.16% between 1901 and 2011.
Subsequently, B, C and D along with their families settled in the city. Out of mimic culture, E’s
newlywed wife persuaded him to build their own
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accommodation on his share of land. This led to disparity between daughters F and G and their
brothers, with the former duo deciding to cultivate their land on their own.

Even though living in the city did not seem to offer much of an economical advantage; it allowed the
men to have their own savings. They could now take decisions, without the catalytic presence of the
conventional wisdom of the elders, who also demanded medical expenses. Their wives can now live
uncongested lives and provide a liberal atmosphere for their children.

X was now forced to divide his 8.05 hectare land equally among his seven children- each received
1.15 hectare. Sons B, C and D sold their lands to live in the costlier city. E had swallowed the
agricultural worth of his land by building an individual home on it. Daughters F and G disintegrated
their shares out of sheer disparity. This left X and his son A with a total of 2.3 hectares, which means
they earned only one fourth of their previous earnings, minus the additional cost of hiring
labour(their family manpower is now insufficient). His huge house had to be broken down due to
financial constraints in maintaining it. Four of his children lead independent lives in two-room
apartments in an urban setting. X’s grandchildren do come to visit him during their vacation, but
they were not submissive to their elders, nor were they socially interactive with their cousins.

This is the story of evolution of family structure in twenty first century India. The tale of X, which
has repeatedly occurred in contemporary India, has resulted in the elderly living in old age homes or
smaller homes in villages, without social and financial security. Modern man’s predominance with
self-centricity, social intolerance, and individual comfort may be quietly stopping us from caring for
the elderly, and abandoning our social responsibilities.

On the other hand, the nuclear family in the city has enabled men and women to work in jobs with
relatively higher incomes, experience the artefacts of urban living, and engage their children in
contemporary schools. One way of addressing the issue of the insecurity of the elderly citizens is to
welcome the elderly into the urban fold, and ensure their physical, medical, and financial needs are
addressed.

III. Chronological snobbery in the social sphere - II: Ignoring traditional implements and artefacts in
the household

Today’s Indian home-maker(about 44.5% of housewives in India are obese) may stand in front of
the microwave in her sleek, modern kitchen, and look back in time and regret having discarded the
traditional, free standing Indian cooking equipment, which two decades ago, had greatly aided her
daily calorific burnout.

For example, the automatic mixer and grinder replaced the hand-operated mortar and the pestle,
which was used for mashing up spices, garlic, chillies, and ginger. The spices, processed with the
mortar and pestle, produced an intense aroma which was absent when processed with its
contemporary, and expensive equivalent (the grinder). A generation of women folk seemed to have
missed out on the culinary advantage and benefits of physical exercise generated in mashing up the
spices with the mortar and pestle.

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The handheld churner, often used by Indian women folk to skim the fat from milk a few decades
ago, and subsequently used to produce butter and ghee suffered a similar fate. The churner was
abandoned, and contemporary women procure ready-made, bottled ghee and butter from the
markets. The churning procedure imparted attractive shape to the arms, and fingers of those Indian
women of the yester years.

More dramatic is the disappearance of kitchen gardens. Earlier a small plot of land was left back
during construction of homes for growing tomatoes, pumpkin, eggplant, chillies, lemon, coriander
and mint leaves that are used daily in the kitchen. Besides reducing shopping costs, this ensures
adequate exercise to home makers through gardening. These days, however people are not
motivated enough to maintain kitchen gardens.

Finally, a concrete and manually dug water well in the lawn was a characteristic feature of a
traditional Indian home. Ground water, replete with minerals, was used for both washing and
bathing. The Indian home maker drew water from the well by means of a rope attached to a pulley,
which encouraged thrift, physical fitness, and careful utilization. Now, water from the ground is
directly pumped towards overhead tanks, making water instantly available.

Use of these mechanical implements kept the Indian housewife fit. There is every need to re-visit,
and use the traditional implements to experience the positive benefits of physical fitness for the
contemporary woman.

IV. Chronological snobbery and the economics of transport

Given the fact that 14.4 million Indian children (the second highest in the world as of 2015) and 20
percent of Indian women are obese, it is ironic and shocking that physical exercise in the country has
always faced a chilling rebuke. Kitchen automation (as described earlier), disappearance of park
spaces in urban areas due to population explosion and urbanization, and the proliferation of mobile
phones and video games may be contributing to prevent the contemporary Indian adult and child
from indulging in a rigorous sprint and swim on a regular basis. In this section, I outline yet another
factor - the disdain towards the humble bicycle.

The meagre proportion of 9.9 cycles per hundred vehicles on the Indian roads, when compared to
the scenario in China (37.2%), Switzerland (48.8%) and Finland (60.4%) may seem to convey its
declining trend. But it is surprising to know that the annual demand for bicycles in the Indian
domestic market is 10 million units and that the Indian market is projected to grow at the rate of
11% till 2021.

This paradoxical economic trend explains itself when one examines the trajectory of the bicycle as
an economic good. The humble bicycle was a “necessity good” in the 1970’s- the milkman, the
watchman and the postman commuted through the bicycle, which were then cheaply available at a
cost range of rupees 500 - 2000. With the advent of globalisation in the 1990’s, motor vehicles were
available at relatively cheaper rates. Now the young bachelor, who would hang about the streets in
his bicycle, received a motor vehicle from his parents on

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his wedding day. Gradually, motor vehicles became a symbol of status, and the bicycle was relegated
to an “inferior good”.

In the twenty first century, the benefits of pedalling became globally recognised, foreign companies
started introducing new trendy bikes, and the Indian Government promoted cycling to reduce
vehicular pollution. The humble bicycle is now a “luxury good”. All these arrived late. Vehicular
traffic, as such, was uncontrollably heavy in India. The new cycle tracks were widely disconnected
and traffic violators in bikes frequently ventured into these. Between 2011 and 2016, a frightening
25435 cyclists were killed, reveals an Ndtv article titled:”Cycling in India- Is it worth the Risk?”. Thus
has our ignorance of the 200 year old cycle cost an entire generation the pleasures and benefits
associated with cycling.

V. Chronological snobbery in the education sphere

The teacher was once recognised as a demigod in India- they were the sole epitomes of knowledge
to the society. A certain rank of people- the Brahmins were only entitled to read the scriptures and
teach in their later life. The ranks of kings and warriors came beneath the Brahmins. Even as late as
in the 1980’s, the teacher was an authoritative figure carrying a bamboo stick, which made students
who had not completed their home works the previous day tremble.

The challenge to the teacher’s dignity came at around 1990, when the country was undergoing
educational reform, influenced by the World Bank- International Monetary Fund combine, which
resulted in state support to education. State patronage in Education in India was drastically reduced
from 12.6 percent in 1990 to 6 percent in 1995. This had resulted in a general financial constraint in
maintaining institutes of higher learning, having its adverse impact on the salary received by a high
school teacher. This now averages to a mere 30000 per month and correlating this fact to the rising
cost of living in the country explains the decision of a graduate student in opting for a professional
course, rather than choosing to teach. Over a period of time, second-best, and third-best students
proliferate teaching (which is a major contemporary concern in India), and the next generation of
students and youngsters would be probably taught by mediocre teachers. Use of daily planners to
schedule teaching activities on a daily basis, and the persistent use of CCTV cameras in classroom
environment made the teaching job even less desirable, and thus exacerbates the situation. The
impact on economic development and society’s progress is thus frightening to visualize.

A way out is to increase the incentives to the teaching profession by an order of magnitude, as is
being done in developed economics like Switzerland, Canada, and Australia.

VI. CONCLUSION

It is important for us to recognise that we stand yet on the shoulders of our ancestors. Most of our
buildings are based on Classical Physics developed prior to 1890. Had we been indifferent to the
knowledge base provided by ancient philosophers and scientists, our progress today would be
minimal.

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References

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http://www.wickedspoonconfessions.com/2015/12/10-traditional-musthave-kitchen.html by
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9."Low pay, long hours, little respect - in short, teaching" dated Oct 1, 2011,
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By

Trishaa Sundar,

Class 12,

Vijayawada,

Andhra Pradesh, India.