Civilising Influence of Culture

Human nature being what it is, after the basic needs of food, clothing & shelter are satisfied, the mind wanders to the lowest common denominator of sensual pleasures like drinking, gambling or worse. To get out of these dehumanising influences, Culture is the only ennobling alternative.

The human mind has to be trained from a young age to appreciate the fine arts like literature, classical music & the graphic arts. Unfortunately, these are mostly acquired tastes, which have to be nurtured from a young age. One cannot wait to be prosperous & retired from active work to pick up these, as it will be too late & one will have lost the taste for them. These have to be life long preoccupations to have any meaningful effect. If they are pushed to the bottom of the list of priorities, they may drop out of it altogether, leaving one a dyed-in-the-wool philistine, no better than an animal.

Realising this, the developed west has made these mandatory in the curriculum. Even an aspiring doctor has to learn to play a musical instrument before he/she enters University. The Chinese, who in their foolish "Cultural Revolution" destroyed records of classical music (as shown in the film "The Red Violin") quickly realised their blunder & now many world class virtuosi are Chinese.

Dharmaraja's Dog & Avarice now

At the end of Mahabharata, Dharmaraja, his brothers, Draupadi & a dog begin their ascent to heaven. One by one the brothers & Draupadi drop off, leaving only the dog with Dharmaraja at the gate of heaven. The dog being refused entry, Dharmaraja also refuses to enter, leaving the dog behind. Then the dog identifies itself as Dharma or righteousness, which was dearer to Dharmaraja than even his brothers & wife, & is allowed to enter heaven.

In a savage parody of this, Indians may have other cultural interests like literature, music & sports, which they may assidiouly cultivate during their younger days,  but all these gradually fall by the wayside in the frenetic rat race of life, leaving only avarice & status as the only goals persued  by them at the end of their life. A popular film actor reportedly said "All friendships have an expiry date." Likewise all other interests, except avarice & status, seem to be time-bound & liable to lose attraction.

Bengaluru "Karaga" & Ngaio Marsh's novel

Karaga festival is held on Chaitrashuddha Pournami. The origin of this is, after the Mahabharata war, Draupadi created a band of "Veerakumaras" to defeat the demon Timirasura. When Draupadi, with the Pandavas, after their earthly sojourn were ascending to heaven, the Veerakumaras requested Draupadi to stay back. She assured them that she will come back annually on Karaga day. The Dharmarayaswami temple priest, dons female attire & impersonates Draupadi & is accompanied by Veerakumaras with swords.

Ngaio Marsh wrote a novel called "Death of a Fool" (USA) or "Off with his head" (UK) where on winter solstice, in a fictional Mardian Castle, "Dance of the five sons" was ritually performed. Apart from the five sons, brandishing swords, there was also the father, Guiser, a Hobby Horse "Crack", & most significantly a "Betty", a man wearing a wide crinoline skirt & impersonating a woman!

What a similarity between esoteric customs in parts of India & U.K.!