santanu-da, there is a basic difference---the more we use natural resources, the more we need to worry about replenishing it; whereas the more we use use social artifacts, the more we are conserving them!!
i believe what you are trying to hand down are the values you attach to laru-pitha. this, as you pointed out, is impossible. what you could do instead is let others (kids, others) *participate* in what is valuable to *you* and let them assign their own values to it. that is, if laru-pitha is important to you, let the kids know it, and let them just participate in the rituals without suffocating in your values. take this for example: http://www.shirky.com/writings/lutefisk.html it is hard to imagine a norwegian kid say at the dinner table: "yuck, mommy, vegetables again? i want lutefisk!" and yet, they grow up and have lutefisk...once a year in their adult life!! they grow to see some value in a poisonous dish! (btw, given a chance, i would eat lutefisk too, at least for once.) so i do not see it as a problem like the way you do. and i hope you see what exactly i meant by the "personal". saurav --- "Roy, Santanu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Saurav: > > Thanks for explaining. But based on what I know of > you, I am not quite sure that personal sentiments > are the only reason why YOU care about these issues. > I may be wrong - but you probably see a future > social value to conservation. > > You see, I wrote about this because I see it as a > vexing problem. > > The current generation values certain attributes and > wants to conserve it for the benefit of future > generations. But the preferences of the future > generations may be very different and are partly > determined by how the current generation influences > social change. > > Take the case of the natural environment. The case > for conserving the natural environment is the value > it will yield to future generations. Because we know > they will value it. To not conserve, would hurt them > (based on all current conception of what they and > their world will be like). > > If you want to extend the same argument to cultural > attributes (including language, religion etc) - it > gets a bit dicey. It is qite possible and likely > that a future generation may assign no value (apart > from historical curiosity) to such objects. So when > we ask for conservation, we also implicitly ask that > social change ought to occur in such a way that the > future generations will actually value what we want > to conserve - in some sense, they should be somewhat > like us. This is a much more difficult proposition. > > If we believe, the future generation will not care > about laru pitha, then it is rational for us to > actually not impart the skill of making laru pithas > to our progenies. But because we do not teach our > progenies how to make laru pitha or to value them, > they will not value it. Thus, the disappearance of > laru pitha becomes a self-fulilling conjecture. > > On the other hand, if we collectively modifed > current society and not only taught our children to > make laru pithas but also created the kind of social > transition that allows the making and eating of laru > pithas to flourish in the future, the value we place > on conserving laru pithas fr the future could also > be self-fulfilling. > > Is one self-fulfilling conjecture better than the > other from a social point of view? I don't know. > > All I know is that it is probably in this context, > that one must understand the historical role of > conservationists of socio-cultural attrbutes. > > Sorry, I am not being very articulate. More later. > Take care - > > Santanu-da. > > Santanu-da. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: xourov pathok [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Sun 1/29/2006 2:44 PM > To: Roy, Santanu; [email protected] > Subject: RE: Threat to the assamese > > > > "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 > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Bring words and photos together (easily) with > PhotoMail - it's free and works with Yahoo! Mail. > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
