Vasudev Kutumbakam

 A few years ago a neighbor who had shifted to Singapore returned back to our neighborhood after a year. The reason he came back to India was that he and his family were  unable to adjust to the excessive orderly and disciplined life of Singapore. They missed the chaos of India.

We Indians prefer everything to be complex and chaotic. Just think of all the ceremonies and rituals we practice for every occasion from pre-birth to death. We prefer color, complexity and chaos along with fun, divinity and collectiveness.

Geert Hofstede developed the Cultural dimension theory which is a framework for Cross cultural communication. The theory describes the effect of a society's culture on the values of its members, and how these values relate to behavior. One of the important dimension explained in this theory is individualism versus collectivism. Individualist society has a loosely knit social framework compared to a collectivist society which has a tightly knit social framework. Personal achievement and individual rights are emphasized in the former whereas collectivist societies prefer cohesiveness and membership affiliations.

Indians today stand on the threshold between being a collectivist society and moving more towards an individualistic society. The generation X and Y who form a major part of the work force in India now can be called the sandwiched generation. This generation grew up in a society that believed in collectivist values. Most of their childhood was in joint families or in closely knit neighborhood. Exposure to an overdose of team spirit and collaboration lectures from their management professors and organisation leaders coupled with an opportunity to travel across the world and settle in various countries which believe in individualism led to confusion. Now, began the confusion about what to follow.....individualism like the western world or collectivism like the eastern world.

Debates began on many platforms whether kids should be brought up as independent individuals or they should be taught to accommodate and live with other members of the family; whether joint family is better or nuclear family; should children be permitted to make career choices on their own or should parents decide for them ; should individual performance be rewarded or teams be rewarded and on many such topics. 

The generation X and Y is the sandwiched generation because they have to respect their parents who still believe in collectivism and expect them to be part of social functions and get involved in extended family matters, but their kids do not believe in socializing with people they cannot connect. One generation believes that whatever is cooked must be eaten by all family members happily whereas one believes that each should eat what they like and individual choices must be respected. Food courts in malls are always over crowded because they cater to all three generations and each can pick their choice of food. Gone are the days when whole family would listen to the same music or watch the same television shows together. The popularity of personal screen is due to individual taste being given more importance than collective choices.

Traditionally we Indians believe in embracing the whole world  and living collectively as we have our roots as an agrarian society. Stress today is high due to the balancing act most Indians are having to do and since most are themselves confused which way to go. In order to live peacefully we need to make a choice of continuing as a collectivist society or supporting individualism only but, moving away from the threshold is necessary to clear the confusion.

I choose collectivism because I believe it has more advantages and helps to cope with any setbacks of life in a better way and also helps to double happiness in life. Enjoy the festivals safely but collectively.

Let me know your choice in the comments section.