Indian and Western Civilisations

Whenever I am alone and idle with nothing to do, I like to reason out the “why” of events around me. It's interesting to try to understand what caused a trend or an isolated event. One of the historical facts is the divergence of Indian and Western civilisations. Both are great in their own unique way but are poles apart. here's my take on the subject.

Indians were great thinkers. As a STEM student I cannot accept that Indians were flying planes in ancient times but the mythology does show that the Indians had the creative power to think of flying (Pushpak Viman), nuclear fission (Bramhastra), indestructible nature of matter/ energy (Punarjanma, Anaadi Anant). The concepts of Bramhand, Zero, study of astronomy show that the Indian mind was far ahead of contemporary societies at that time.

Problem was the method of teaching and sharing of knowledge & skills. Knowledge was (and

is) power. Skills are valued. Indians understood that and they shared their knowledge only with their offspring and trusted Shishyas. Knowledge & skills were not documented properly. This was probably due to the fear that it may fall into “wrong” hands (anyone who was not son/daughter or trusted Shishya) and would dilute their “Power”. The teaching was only by word of mouth. Though this did preserve the power in the hands of the elite, it had three detrimental consequences. One, the knowledge was lost if some wise man did not share it with anyone. Second, the knowledge degraded over generations, as oral knowledge lost something in communication (e.g. Chinese whispers). Third, if one offspring was not as intelligent as the knowledge demanded, he/she was asked to learn by rote. This became a rule rather than an exception and the knowledge became a meaningless ritual. It also meant that original thinking was discouraged. One was not supposed to tinker with what was taught. It was a “Given” without any logic. One was not allowed to question the wisdom of a Guru.

This is where the Western civilization differed from Indian. They documented every discovery, invention and knowledge. They invented the printing press through which knowledge was spread in its entirety within the society without loss in communication. It was tested and questioned by peers thereby bringing in many perspectives and sharpness to the knowledge.

Another area where Western civilisation differed was the way work & occupation was looked at. Every society wants to reduce manual work so that its people can have an easier life. Indians with their feudal setup used the less privileged to do their menial tasks. Westerners invented machines. As a result anyone working with their hands and legs was considered “Low caste” in Indian society but anyone who was a craftsman was respected in Western civilisation. The highest authority or Bramhan was one who only did thinking or teaching and got all the manual work done by others. The lowest rung was the craftsman or labour who did work useful to the society. An ironsmith was creating hulls and swords but he was low caste. He had no incentive to innovate or to improve his product, as he received no appreciation or reward. A farmer created food for all but he was treated poorly and had to share fruits of his labour with all. As against this, the westerners valued watchmakers, shoemakers and soldiers for their skills. And from these thoughts came the early scientists who would work with their hands in

Chemistry labs or for inventing labour reducing machines and of course for creating better guns. The results are apparent to us. Indians with their inward thinking remained rooted here as against the Westerners who used their guns, ships and action oriented war strategies, to conquer the world.

I believe today’s civilization needs machines to ensure that humans do not have to toil endlessly to earn a living but it also needs to look inward to reach a higher level of knowledge and self-realisation. Fortunately with global communication and free movement of people, today we are at a point in history where the Indian and Western minds and capabilities can come together to form an egalitarian society with respect for all and degradation of none.