Culture
The word culture comes from the Latin word meaning to cultivate, as in agriculture. It gained its modern usage in the 1800s.
What is this culture of which we speak?
Is in the brightly-coloured baubles in the shops?
Is it in the high-flown opera to which I do not go?
Is it in the book I am reading?
Is it in the conversations I have?
Where is it when the conversation runs dry?
Where is it when I am silent and meditating on my breathing?
Is it given to me or do I have to find the key?
Is there more to come or is this all there is?
If I may say so, culture is the river of civilisation. Habits and rituals keep changing slowly. This river picks up new things from the banks, and leave a few thngs behind. I think, golf was born in Scotland but it is now an important part of culture of USA.
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Yes, you may say so. Always, you may say so.
I wasn’t thinking very hard when I wrote my commentary – but I was mostly concerned with value. What value is placed on this, versus that, cultural aspect? Is it all in the eye of the beholder?
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I will go with Budhha. There is no intrinsic value in anything. At best things are of relative value or as you said it “in the eye of beholder.” BTW Distant is always attractive.
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A mix of both. The imagery Sandeep presents through his analogy of the river and I do believe a river itself is different to each person – it’s in the eye of the beholder.
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Intriguing photograph for the challenge!
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It was a performance in a haveli in Udaipur in Rajasthan. 🙂
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Wonderful capture and interesting, thought-provoking discussion. Good job
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Glad you enjoyed it. How do you feel about ‘culture’?
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I think there are so many interpretations it’s hard to answer the question but for the most part, the traditional spin on culture is something that helps people to bond together, yet taken to the extreme it causes them to ostracize others. I’d like to see cultures protected as an important element of continuity, so long as those who share it do so without prejudice toward non-members.
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I like ‘something that helps people bond’ – that seems a good route into it.
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very lovely photograph…almost like a painting. ♥
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Really great…
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A beautiful shot that draws the viewer in!
Culture gives a people identity I think, quite like a family name differentiates one from another. Being cultured is quite another thing 🙂
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Yes, and it has to do with whether one identifies with the culture.
‘Being cultured’ has huge overtones of class divisions in the UK (actually, less so in Scotland).
The BBC recently announced a new ‘class calculator’ that included cultural tags.
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Interesting. And sounds a bit discriminatory, quite like our infamous caste system 🙂
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