"Roy, Santanu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Saurav:
I understand. But quite apart from the context in which this discussion arose - let us for a moment suppose that Bihu simply degenerates into a holiday - an excuse for urban young people to get drunk, play hindi music etc. In the extreme, lets suppose it simply disappears - no memory whatsover. For that matter lets suppose, all of the traditional festivals of all the people disappear. Would it imply that the people have lost themselves? Or that society has simply evolved that new festivals and new traditions grounded in the current social reality of the people have emerged. And in that changed reality, there will be a new perception of the people about their past that will allow them to alter the essence of what it means to be an Assamese. Hundred years from now, a new Xourav will be identifying threats to Assamese culture thar you - saurav - would consider to be sacrilege - will be fighting to defend a new language - that you might consider entirely alien today.
Santanu-da.
santanu-da,
you know the answer to this as well as i do. it would by no means imply that the people have lost themselves. they would have have simply moved on. and indeed a new xourov would be listing the new threats to assamese society!!
but you should be able to differentiate between two aspects of the issue. the objective reality---which is what i tried to portray, and the value of the of the cultural artifacts to me, personally. they are two different things. you know it, as well as i do. in one you attach a personal value, in the other you don't.
somehow, the personal value provides a momentum, to sustain it in one form or the other. and as you mentioned in reply to utpal-da's mail, this is a natural tendency.
saurav
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