India is a culture rich place i.e. famous for its rich heritage and culture.

Well, culture of a place

also includes our traditional industries. Since the ancient times, traditional industries and related
economic activities have flourished in India and were the life support of the people. But slowly
and gradually these industries started vanishing and in the present day are on the verge of
extinction. What caused this change? Was this change a sudden one? Is it good for our country?
Let us see.
The major cause of this change was globalization and yes the change was a gradual one; not a
sudden one. Not sticking with the definition here; on broader terms, Globalization simply refers
to big industries (of all types) taking over the basic industries in our country. The next question
which arises is that which type of industries are we talking about?
Well, the answer to this question is very simple. We keep reading in the books that in India, the
traditional industries flourished but most of us are not aware what kind of industries we are
talking about. We are talking about the traditional industries of cotton and jute, handloom
industries, the art of making bangles, handicrafts and many more. Now that we know the
industries which were affected, lets see when and how the change was caused.
When India was a free nation (i.e. right before the ships of any foreign traders touched our ports),
the country was dominated by basic industries and ruled by kings. When the first foreigners, i.e.
the Portuguese touched our ports, they didnt try to change anything around here. Rather they
appreciated our culture and respected it. Complications arose when the British came. Our land
was divided among many kingdoms and hence we failed to recognize our true potential. The
British just took the advantage of it and saw how our traditional industries were the foundation of
our civilization. This was where they attacked us and brought us tumbling down, crushed our
industries and established their dominance over us.
The British used their own goods and goods from other places including India. With our
industries gone; they started introducing their own goods in our country like confectionaries,
apparels, crafts etc. Some nave Indians saw this as the development of our nation, but the truth
was something else. In my own words:
A developed nation is not one in which the poor have cars, it is one where the rich use public
transport
which here means that the roots which are shared by all the people, if cherished will help us
develop. Abandoning the old roots and adopting the new ones just doesnt work. Same was the
case with India. People were grateful to the British for globalization but they failed to notice
their true intention behind this.
Go in a market or a city. All we see is foreign goods (mostly) dominating the markets. No one
even looks up to the small industries now left to rot in the villages. I agree that we are at an
advantage because of globalization but we just fail to see the other side of the coin to realize how
w globalization has ruined many rural households who are now vulnerable groups.
In the words of Jimmy Carter:
If you're totally illiterate and living on one dollar a day, the benefits of globalization never come
to you.
Well thats true. The benefits of globalization are only enjoyed by the upper strata of the society.
It is not that globalization is all bad. It has its own plus points. Some of them can be that we are
now in pace with the world and from our outer shell, we look almost developed. The national
income is higher and people are more and more developing. Yes, the nation is growing. If we are
to develop new roots, it is essential that we are in contacts with the origin, or we are sure to fall
to the ground.
Globalization has helped us, no doubt but instead of affecting just the rural households, it has
affected the entire nation. The children crave the flavor of the foreign globalized goods and are
not even interested in the food cooked at home. As a result we see flailing health and weakness
eating into the whole nation.
With globalization we are able to interact with the entire world taking points out of their culture.
But as it is the human nature, we are tempted towards the bad aspects of each culture corroding
our own culture even further. As a result we see falling moral values among us.
Throughout the world there are many people who are in full support of globalization. In the
words of Kofi Annan:
Arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity
With globalization, we are contributing to the growth of foreign industries. With each foreign
good we buy, we are helping the companys CEO to buy a new Lamborghini. The smaller
industries have nowhere to go and hence are restricted to the villages, or simply the places with
stunted growth. As a result; the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

Where globalization means, as it so often does, that the rich and powerful now have new means
to further enrich and empower themselves at the cost of the poorer and weaker, we have a
responsibility to protest in the name of universal freedom.
-Nelson Mandela


Now as we approach the end, we see that both the sides are supporting themselves. But it is up to
us to draw a conclusion and put an end to all the confusion generated by the different arguments.
We see that globalization has strengthened our new generation although we cannot neglect the
fact that how it has managed to decay our roots. Globalization is a necessary evil, with both good
and bad aspects, it is essential for our growth. Although some modifications can be made to
original idea. One change that can be made is that we can start contributing to the growth of the
traditional industries so that it can serve as a viable replacement option, a much better one for the
generations to come. If we also encourage the smaller industries, we are assured all- round
development and the people who have cried for long can finally smile. Maybe it is just the time
for an old touch.
With the looks of the things, what the people might need is a little old fashioned

- The Avengers (Marvels Pvt. Ltd.)
So in conclusion globalization is good for us but only if it is implemented in the modified form
i.e. by strengthening our roots and not dissolving them so that our country is at the top of the
world, with its reins in our hands.
I will develop and grow by the support of my ancestors and not by eliminating them; the latter
would only make me weaker.

Pancham Gupta