India - a Land of Traditional Values

India, our motherland, invokes pride in its citizen’s minds. This is because India is a country with diverse customs and traditions, values and religions. Though India might not be considered a technologically advanced country, it still remains the most traditional country in the world. Indian tradition is admired and respected all around the world for its beauty and depth. Almost every Indian tradition or custom has a particular scientific, logical or spiritual significance. Though traditions are not followed with so much grandeur in today’s city life, villages follow these customs quite exuberantly. Sometimes, traditions/customs are misinterpreted and lead to the emergence of various superstitions such as Sati and Female Infanticide. However, over time, such practices have become rare due to scientific reason. These types of misunderstandings often happen when people mechanically follow a tradition without actually understanding it. But for those who DO understand the actual meaning of the custom they follow, it binds together their family and friends, regardless of each other’s caste, creed, race or color. However, such mutual understanding has reduced considerably since the common man adapted to Western lifestyle. Indian traditions include lighting of lamps before an auspicious event, distribution of sweets on a happy occasion and a few others. Lighting lamps before auspicious events symbolizes light and repels darkness. While many would debate that a bulb would serve the purpose better, the lamp is considered more symbolic and religious compared to other technological replacements. Distribution of sweets on happy occasions allows us to share the happiness to all our friends and relatives. This showcases our love and affection towards them. Indian values, too, have important significance in an Indian’s life. The most common of these values being touching the feet of an elder. This value signifies the respect for the elder from a person and also shows that