SOMETIMES, something that one least expects happens when one is looking the other way. Sometimes, not just a person, but an entire community is so wrapped up in one thing that quite another happens, without their even noticing it. One is talking here, of course, of that thorny, pride-inducing, friction-causing, important, beautiful, hard-to-define entity: culture.

All Indians are extremely proud of their culture. Rightfully so, of course. However, sometimes this is taken to ridiculous lengths, as in the feeling, often scantily disguised, that such and such a culture is superior to some other. Since India does not have a single monolithic culture, but a multiplicity of them, this sometimes leads to problems. Gradually, though, we seem to be learning to take pride in our own sub-national cultures, while appreciating that of others within the national sphere. For in a society as multi-layered as ours, where a variety of ethnicities ensures a huge variety of cultures, it is only through this live and let live attitude that we can keep the flames of all our varied ways of life alive.

Assam, like many other places, has had periods in its history when its inhabitants felt that their own culture was under threat. Language, religion, dress, there were times in past centuries, as well as in the much more recent years, when these markers of the uniqueness of our culture have seemed to be under siege from various forces. Assamese culture, like most other cultures, is not a homogeneous entity, but is made up of many layers, many living sub-cultures which together add up to a luminous palimpsest of great beauty. And it is, of course, right that we have guarded the uniqueness of our culture with such zeal and enthusiasm. It is because of this awareness that we can stand proud and tall today, and say that we are Assamese, in all its multi-layered, multi-tiered glory and beauty.

But have you noticed? While most of us were ferociously defending our cultural ramparts from one enemy, another has stolen into our castle. Indeed, the problem is that we have welcomed this other culture into our midst with open arms, and are now busy taking on as many aspects of that culture as we possibly can. No processions have ever been taken out against the growing hegemony of this culture. No protests have ever been made about its growing stranglehold on our lives. And yet, it is there, taking over so many aspects of our lives that one wonders which bastion of Assamese-ness will crumble before its onslaught next.

The North-Indianisation of our culture is happening with such rapidity that one cannot help being surprised. Equally surprising is the fact that our people are accepting it so happily. Are we the descendants of the same people who protested against the imposition of Bangla as the local language a century and a half ago? Are we the children of the same people who took part in the language riots in the sixties of the last century? Well, yes, of course we are, but it seems that somewhere along the way, the DNA has got mixed up. Now we embrace this other cultural entity so whole heartedly that soon we will be more North Indian than North Indians themselves.

Take religion, for instance. In all the modes of worship that have been rooted to this land, the female deity comes foremost in the pantheon, most of the time. Whether it is Maa Kamakhya or Maa Mahamaya, or indeed, one of the many tribal deities of these hills and valleys, the Female Principle has always been worshipped with fervour. With the mainstreaming of religion, Vaishnavism became a luminous form of worship here. Indeed, an important part of the cultural mosaic of this land has come from Vaishnavism. Sometime in the last couple of centuries, we embraced Durga Worship as an import from Bengal. In any case, this form of Devi Worship jelled with the predominant ethos of the land, as did Kali puja, and Lakshmi puja. Shiva, too, has been worshipped, especially on His special day of Shivratri.

In all this, the much-revered deity of the rest of the country, Ganesh, was conspicuous by His absence. At most He was accorded a token nod at the beginning of prayers, since it is written that all ritual Hindu worship is to begin with an invocation to this Lord. But today, the elephant-headed deity appears everywhere. He is most prominent in the wedding invitation cards. Sometimes, each invitation carries (no joking) as many as seven pictures, all in glorious technicolour, of the rotund God of Auspicious Beginnings.

It’s not as though we do not have auspicious symbols of our own. Whatever happened to the Prajapati which adorned wedding cards of a generation ago? And what about the pot of auspicious mango leaves? That, too, has wilted away, and given place to Ganesh Baba on invitation cards in no uncertain manner.

But wedding celebrations, overall, of today owe much to the North Indian influence. It is common to set aside a special day for the mehendi ceremony in the bride’s place. Not only is the ceremony itself a new introduction to our wedding rituals, the songs that are sung there are straight imports from Hindi films. Our own biya naams are in the meanwhile, dying a quiet death.

Our parents’ generation was very familiar with Bengali, the language of the cultured Assamese. Rabindra Sangeets were learned and sung, Tagore was quoted at the drop of a hat. Our generation is not nearly as familiar with Bengali language, literature and culture as our parents are. And as for our children, forget it! It’s North Indian culture that they are embracing. Hindi is a language that most young people are becoming very fluent in. This would be good if they acquired their proficiency through a reading of books, the way our parents acquired their proficiency of Bengali. But it is through the medium of television and films that they are acquiring familiarity with the language. The rich storehouse of Hindi literature remains closed to them.

There is a great deal of animosity towards western culture. Every invasion, real or imagined, from the Evil West is greeted with hostility from the guardians of cultural purity of our land. Yet, this incursion of values and cultural practices from North India is mostly ignored.

Of course, culture is never a static thing. Constantly evolving, always changing, it is a river, rather than a lake. All Things Considered, though, what is surprising is not that there is such a heavy North Indian influence on the cultural practices of our valleys today. What is amazing is that it is happening so rapidly, and is meeting with hardly any resistance from those who are always up at arms at perceived cultural incursions from other places.

MITRA PHUKAN