Culture vs tradition what’s your take ?

 

Culture vs tradition what’s your take ?

Growing up in a Hindu family, I thought culture and tradition were basically the same thing. Now, after 50+ years of life, I think I finally understand the difference. Tradition is what we do. Culture is what we carry.

For example… Touching elders’ feet.

That’s a tradition. The respect for elders behind it? That’s culture.

Lighting a diya during puja. The diya is the tradition. Taking a few quiet moments to pause, pray and feel grateful—that’s culture.

Making 10 different dishes for a festival because apparently one kitchen should be able to feed a small wedding! That’s tradition.

The joy of getting everyone around the same table—that’s culture.

Fasting on certain festivals. The fasting is a tradition. Discipline, devotion and understanding why we do it—that’s culture.

Dancing Garba during Navratri.

The steps, music and clothes are tradition.

The feeling of community, celebration and belonging—that’s culture.

And then there are those wonderfully mysterious Indian traditions where you ask- But WHY do we do this? And the answer from Mom or Grandma is usually:Because… we have always done it.

I remember doing so many things as a child without questioning them. As I grew older, I started asking questions. And now, as a mother and someone raising the next generation away from India, I see it differently. I don’t think we have to preserve every tradition exactly as it was.

We need to preserve the values behind the traditions. My daughter may not celebrate every festival exactly the way I did growing up. She may not know every ritual by heart. But if she understands respect, gratitude, family, compassion, generosity and the stories behind our traditions, then I feel we’ve passed something meaningful forward.

Because culture isn’t a museum piece. It evolves. Traditions can change. Food can change. Festivals can look different. Even the way we pray can change. Even in India across the various states and in fact within the state different families of the same household .. for the same festival we often accept the various versions “humare yeha to aisa hota hai ! “

But the values that connect us to our roots?

Those are worth carrying forward. Maybe that’s what being Indian is really about: Keeping the roots… while allowing the branches to grow.

And honestly, if the next generation also keeps the ability to make chai, argue passionately about which side of the family makes the best food, and call Mom for every festival recipe…

I think our culture is going to be just fine.

I observe hartalika teej do nirjal fasting .. the one day I blindly follow what my heart tells me to do .. this if for our love, better future .. better health .. in a cotton silk neon green beauty with golden and hot pink border saree .. got a lot of compliments for us the sindoor from Bihar area often starts from the nose tip on these special festive occasions like teej etc. Get a glimpse of that in the group pics

Quiz - Now is this tradition of culture ?