Bangladeshi Culture: An indigenous panorama
Culture means idea,
behaviour, norm, language, music, function and tradition of the society of a
particular zone. A society‘s culture is made up of all of its ideas and ways of
behaving. It also includes ways of working and playing, and the tools and other
objects made and used by people in the society. As studying a person‘s repeated
actions is a good way to find out about that person, studying the important
patterns of an entire society is a way to learn about the culture of that
group. Patterns of behaviour and action vary from individual to individual,
class to class, society to society and country to country. These differences
are referred to as cultural differences. What is an appropriate mode of
behaviour in one culture might prove inappropriate or even rude in another
culture. As an independent country, we have our own national identity and our
own culture. Our culture is very healthy and affluent in all respects. Its root
goes in the long past. It has developed itself on the agriculture-based economy
and in a charming way. People in Bangladesh are Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and
some Christians. The major festivals are the two Eids of the Muslims, Durga
Puja of the Hindus, Boudha Purnima of the Buddhists and the Christmas day of
the Christians. Pahela Baishakh is the common festival day of all Bangalees
irrespective of cast and creed. Foods that we eat are very clean, tasteful and
good for health. Rice, fish, meat, vegetables, milk, different kinds of
sweetmeats and delicious native fruits like mangoes, jackfruits, lichi,
blackberry, banana, pineapple are our favourite foods. We speak Bengali and our
literature is rich with Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul
Islam, Farruk Ahmed, Sukanta Bhatracharja, Sunil Gangapadhaye etc. All their
writings have exposed our cultural identity. Apart from the patterns and styles
of other cultures, we have our own cultural dress, taste and music. We put on
pajama, panjabi, lungi, dhuti, sari, blouse and skirt. In our country we have
many kinds of folk songs. Palligeeti, Lalongeeti, Bhatiali Bhawaiya, Gambhira,
Marfoti, Murshidi, Jarigan, Sharigan, Kabigan, Gonosangeet etc. Moreover, we
enjoy snake charming, puppet show, jatra, concert, cockfight, bullfighting,
boat-racing etc. Besides these, Pahela Baishakh celebration, Baishakhi Mela,
Nabannaya are no less important sides of our cultural events. Bangladeshi
culture is different from other cultures of the world. The modes of life,
behaviour patterns, cultural functions are significant and they expose our
national criteria. But these days we are getting influenced by other cultures
and so we are forgetting our own cultural events. But we can enjoy, express our
views and ideas and lead our life happily in our own way and through our native
culture. However, we are proud of our own culture.
Influence of Western Civilisation: A threat to our culture
Civilisation means an
advanced and organised state of human and social development. It exposes a
society or a country, its culture and its way of life during a particular
period of time. In fact, a country or a nation is known by its civilisation.
The influence of western civilisation is the most talked topic. Western culture
is intruding into our culture in a very
alarming way. This intrusion of western culture into our own culture has both
advantages and disadvantages. Now young generation takes little interest in our
own traditional folk song. Pop music gives them more pleasure. Very few people
hear the 'ektara', 'dotara', Baul song, 'jari' and 'shari gan'. These days no
more people go to see the 'jatra' that was a great source of entertainment in
the past. The circus show is now less popular than before. Western civilisation
has introduced us with the people, society, food, dress, education, history and
culture of the whole of western world. Gradually we are changing our dress
pattern and speaking style with English accent. Now the western hamburgers,
sandwiches, hotdogs, yoghurt, dossa, pizza, kentucky fried chicken and rolls
have become very popular. Western civilisation develops our consciousness of
the western world and helps us to make a comparative study between western
civilisation and ours and to judge the standard of our culture. It also helps
to enrich our civilisation by accepting the good things of western
civilisation. The disadvantages of western civilisation for our society are
very remarkable. It has already created such bad effect on our youngsters. The
young people are trying to imitate western gross and vulgar culture forgetting
our own culture. If this continues, our own culture and tradition will be
vanished immediately. In the present global world, we cannot discard western
civilisation. So, we should try to grasp what is good and abandon what is bad
in western civilisation.
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