Q1) What is ‘Culture’ and how is it different from ‘Civilization’? How is ‘Culture’ interlinked to ‘Heritage’? Highlight various characteristics of Indian Culture. (200 words)

THOUGHT PROCESS

*THE TWO PATRS OF THE QUESTION ARE DEFINITION BASED. INTRODUCTION CAN SIMPLY REVOLVE AROUND DEFINITIONS. REMEMBER THESE ARE SOME OF THE BASIC DEFINITIONS WHICH UPSC TRIES TO TEST ON YOU.

*THE LAST PART TRIES TO CHECK ON YOUR GENERAL UNDERSTANDING ABOUT ‘CULTURE’.

*EXAMPLES, WHEREVER NECESSARY WILL FETCH YOU ADDITIONAL MARKS.

KEYWORDS: culture, civilization, heritage, characteristics of Indian Culture

PAST YEAR QUESTION ON SIMILAR LINES: Safeguarding the Indian art heritage is need of the moment. Comment.

REFERENCE: Question on general understanding. NIOS can be referred.

The word ‘culture’is derived from a latin term ‘cult’ which means to cultivate. It is believed that culture means cultivating and refining a thing to such an extent that its end product evokes are admiration and respect. In general, the term ‘culture’ is defined as the way of life. The way an individual and especially a group live, think, feel and organize themselves, celebrate and share life.

 ‘Civilization’ and   ‘culture’ are often used synonymously but they are different terms. Civilization is an advanced state of social and cultural development or the process of reaching this state. Civilization denotes to what we have. It is external. It represents a state of cultural advancement. Culture is higher levels of inner refinement of human being. It is internal and denotes to what we are. It is related to thoughts, feelings, ideas, values, art, literature etc.  Culture is precondition for development of civilization. All societies have culture but the vice versa may not be true.

Culture leads to ‘heritage’. Cultural heritage is the culture which we inherit from our predecessors or past generations. Such heritage are cherished, protected and maintained by the successors with unbroken continuity and they feel proud of it. 

Eg.

1. A nation inherits a culture which may be termed as national cultural heritage.
2. Humanity as a whole has inherited a culture which may be called a human heritage.
3. All important monuments and places like Taj Mahal, Red Fort, India Gate etc. are our heritage and need protection.
4. Intellectual achievements, philosophy, treasure of knowledge, scientific inventions and discoveries are part of our heritage.

Indian Culture has survived through ages due to its various characteristics. Few of them are-

1. Continuity and change- Indian culture has shown remarkable continuity for example in the sphere of religion. Some aspects of Harappan religion like Pashupati and Mother goddess are still worshipped. At the same time Indian society has been discarding various irrelevant elements. The reform movements in religions can be seen as such examples.
2. Unity, diversity and secularism- different people of religion, caste , color etc. live together in our country practicing different occupation, celebrating different festivals, enjoying variety art forms etc.
3. Universalism- India values peace and harmony and walks on the path of ‘vasudhaiv Kutumbkam’. India’s lead in the non- alignment movement and its dedication in the UN peace missions underline this characteristic.
4. Blend of Materialistic and Spritualistic- India has produced some great works on Science, Astronomy. Mathematics, Medicine etc. on the other hand the west looks India as a land Vedas and a land of Buddha.

Therefore culture is closely linked with our lives. It is not just an add-on or an ornament. It is what makes us human. It gives birth to a civilization that we are part of and heritage that we are proud of. Indian Culture, in similar way, has distinctive features and its uniqueness are the precious possessions of all Indians.

Q2) Kabir was one of the greatest personalities of the Bhakti movement of the medieval India whose teachings are relevant even in the Contemporary India. Discuss.

 THOUGHT PROCESS

• BHAKTI- SUFI MOVEMENTS ARE IMPORTANT TOPICS. MUST BE DEALT IN DETAIL
• THIS QUESTION HAS TWO PARTS- 1^ST DISCUSS IN BRIEF ABOUT KABIR’S TEACHINGS (know the region of the saint , time period etc.), 2^ND TALK ABOUT ITS RELEVANCE IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA MENTIONING FEW OF CONTEMPORARY INDIA’S PROBLEMS.
• THE WORD ‘DISCUSS’ HERE SUGGESTS YOU TO CONSIDER WHERE ASPECTS OF KABIR’S TEACHINGS. ARRIVING AT A CONCLUSION IS ESSENTIAL IN A ‘DISCUSS’ QUESTION

KEYWORDS:  Kabir, his teachings, contemporary India, Discuss.

PAST YEAR QUESTION ON SIMILAR LINES: The Bhakti Movement received a remarkable reorientation with the advent of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Discuss.

(UPSC has been asking Personality Based questions . Therefore special attention must be based on personalities.)

Kabir was a 15^th century Indian mystic saint of the Bhakti movement. He was famous for his dohas and couplets. The most important aspect of his writings was that he was critical of both Hinduism and Islam and questioned the meaningless rites and customs included in the religions. His dohas are so relevant even in the modern day context that they are often cited as gospel truth. His poems indicate him to be a great social reformer of his time.

Kabir’s teachings are very relevant in today’s time. For example-

Kabir’s dohas mentioned love and tolerance. They were among the main themes of his poetry. He advised all to give up hatred. This is very relevant in a society where we see division and violence in the name of caste and religion in today’s time.

Compassion was another theme in his poetry which seems to be missing in the society today. He was against the double standards of individuals and advocated against practice of hypocrisy.

His message of equality and harmony was carried forward by Mahatma Gandhi. In a diverse country like India, Kabir’s message of equality is invoked from time to time.

His message of equality revolved around anti-discrimination and social justice. Thus what he stressed was on humanitarian values. This is one aspect of his teaching which is felt important whenever a section of society goes through social injustice.

Kabir’s dohas touched some important morals of life like honesty, love, faith in oneself, truth etc. He was antagonist of prevailing caste system and other evil practices of religion. In some of these ways Kabir’s dohas and his works touch both spiritual and practical spheres of life.

In today’s materialistic society, deeply affected by discrimination, corruption etc., Kabir’s message of equality, honesty, love and brotherhood find special place. In fact it won’t be wrong to say that kabir’s dohas have never been more relevant than in present day fragmented society.

Q3)Explain the development of drama through various phases in India and recognize the contribution of folk theatre.

THOUGHT PROCESS

• THIS QUESTION TESTS YOUR KNOWLEDGE ON PERFORMATIVE ART
• REQUIRES FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE ON THE TOPIC OF THEATRE
• ONE MUST KNOW THAT THE LINK BETWEEN DRAMA AND LITERATURE
• THE TERM EXPLAIN ASKS YOU TO DESCRIBE THE SUBJECT IN SOME DETAIL

 KEYWORDS: Explain, drama, various phases, folk theatre

 Previous Year Question on the same lines:  to be noted that UPSC has not asked any question yet on performing arts. Therefore the section of performing art becomes likely topic in the years to come.

 Reference: NIOS

India is a land of rich culture and heritage. Since the beginning performing art has been an integral part of our culture. Drama in particular, has been practiced since time immemorial. Sociologists argue that a child’s play ( a child enacts, mimics etc.) marks the beginning of drama.

Indigenous traditions trace the origin of Indian Drama to the Vedas. In the Ramayana we hear of drama troupes of women while Kautilya’s Arthashastra mentions musicians, dancers and dramatic shows. Major literature dedicated to drama was Bharat’s Natyashastra and his plays Asura Parajaya and Amrit Manthan. Bharata has mentioned nat (male artist) and nati( female artists), music, dance, musical instruements, dialogues, themes and stage. There is a mention of a community called ‘shailoosh’ which is a professional drama company. The practice og singing heroic tales became popular. As a result professional singers called kushilavas came into existence.

The next epoch is that of great Bhasa who wrote plays on stories of Udayana, Ramayana and Mahabharata. In the second century B.C Patanjali’s Mahabhasya refers to several aspects of drama i.e the actors, the music, the stage, rasa in the performance called Kamsavadha and Balibandha.

It should be noted that in ancient times the language of the educated was Sanskrit so the plays were written in Sanskrit. But the characters of the lower class spoke Prakrit. This is evident in Vatsayan’s Kamasutra and Kalidasa’s Abhijnan Shakuntalam. Prakrit became very popular in 10^th century A.D . Vidyapati around 14^th Century introduced Hindi and other regional languages in form of songs. In the medieval period Wajid Ali Shah was a great patron of Art and Drama.

Apart from classical drama, folk theatre was very common in the Indian landscape. It was spontaneous and extempore in nature. Local dialect was used. Thus people connected to the themes easily, many a times themes revolved local issues of society. Acting accompanied music and dance. Instruments like dhol, kartal, manjira were some props used. Some examples of folk theatres are-

Bengal – jatra, kirtania natak

Bihar- Bideshia

Rajasthan- raas, jhoomar

Gujarat- bhawaii

Therefore drama both in classical and folk tradition has a long historical background in India. With the advent of the British and influence of westernization and modernization, new flavours were added to Drama. One act plays , Nukkad Nataks, Musical theatres etc. are some of the more popular forms of theatre which are taking the tradition of drama forward.

Q4)India may have got independence from the clutches of British power but the struggles of Indians to save the country’s environment is an ongoing process even after the independence. Justify . (250 words)

THOUGHT PROCESS

• Topic: Post- independence India
• The word Justify tells you that you have to write in the tone of the statement by giving several examples.
• This question basically tests your factual knowledge. The real task will be to write an answer for 250 Words ( there are certain questions for which you have very less matter)

Keywords: struggles for environment, after Independence, justify.

Past year question on the theme:  There have been a very few questions on this area so far. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t be ignored.

Also, there will be a doubt on the relevance of this question as the syllabus mentions” post-independence consolidation and reorganization….” But one must be ready for surprises from UPSC. 2013 UPSC surprised the candidatates on Bhoodan and Gramdan movements.

An environmental movement or ‘green movement or conservation movement is a social or political movement, for the conservation of environment. They stress is on sustainable development of our natural resources. In India as elsewhere the stress of such movements are on ecology, health, human rights or change in public policy. The Bishnoi Movement in 1700s in the state of the Rajasthan can be remembered as one of the earliest movements’ .Amrita Devi as a leader worked for the cause of saving sacred trees from being cut down by the crown.

In the Post- Independence period some major environmental movements took place:

1. Chipko Movement: this movement took place in 1973 in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The leaders of this movement were Mr. Sunderlal Bahuguna, Chandi Prasad Bhatt etc. the movement aimed at protecting the trees of the Himalayan slopes from the brutal axes of contractors. Mr. Bahuguna enlightened the villagers about importance of trees and asked them to ‘hug’ the trees. This movement not only gained strength in India but got popularity all over the world.
2. Save Silent Valley Movement: this movement took place in 1978. Silent Valley is an evergreen tropical forest in the Palakkad district of Kerela, India. The Kerela Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) an NGO, and the poet- activist Sughathakumari played an important role in the Silent Valley protests. Silent Valley had to be protected against a hydroelectric project. The protest led to not only calling off the project but also in 1985, Silent Valley National Park was inaugurated.
3. Jangal Bachao Andolan: it took place in the Singhbhum district of Bihar in 1982. It is to be noted that it was led by the tribals of Singhbhum. They protested against the government’s decision to replace the natural Sal forest with Teak.
4. Appiko Movement: this movement occurred in uttara Kannada and shimoga districts of Karnataka in 1983. The movement was against the felling and commercialization of natural forests and the ruin of ancient livelihood. The most remarkable thing here was that though it had Pandurang Hegde as its facilitator but largely not formally organized and was a mass struggle not driven by a single personality.
5. Narmada Bachao Andolan: it was a social movement against a number of large dams being built across the Narmada Riverin the year 1985. Its leaders comprised of Medha Patker, Baba Amte, adivasis, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists. World Bank withdrew from the project of Sardar Sarovar dam project after the protest.
6. Tehri Dam Conflict: in 1990’s Sunderlal Bahuguna started a movement against the displacement of town inhabitants and environmental consequences of weak ecosystem. The place of the movement was Bhagirathi River near Tehri in Uttarakhand.

The list of such movements in Post-Independence India is long. The present day water crisis and related issues have created the much need for such movements to open the eyes of state, industrialists and common man yet again for the cause of mother earth, nature and future generations.

Q5) The first decade after Independence highlighted a socialist orientation of Nehru’s planning of economic all round development. Highlight the important aspects of the economic plan for the first decade after independence. (250 Words)

THOUGHT PROCESS

• Topic: Post Independence India
• Highlight means important points to be mentioned.
• Remember this is not an economy question but a history question. Stress more on the issues and not more on the figures/data. Note that the question asks only first and second five year plan
• It is a very expected topic and must not be ignored
• One must begin with the objectives and why such objectives were needed.

Keywords:  first decade, after independence, socialist orientation of Nehru, highlight.

Past year question on similar theme: not asked so far but very popular and expected every year.

Reference: new NCERT

The National Planning Commission was appointed in 1950 with Jawaharlal Nehru as its Chairman. The objective of the Planning had a Socialist orientation and drew sustenance from the Directive Principles of State Policy mentioned in the Constitution.

 There were four long term objectives of the planning which were to be achieved through mixed economy:

1. To increase production to the maximum possible extent so as to achieve higher level of national and per capita income;
2. To achieve full employment;
3. To reduce inequalities of wealth and income
4. And to set up a socialist society based on equality and justice and to ensure absence of exploitation.

First Five Year Plan (1951-56)

After independence India faced three major problems- rehabilitation of refugees, severe food shortage and inflationary pressure on economy. Thus the first plan accorded the highest priority to agriculture including irrigation and power projects.

Second Five Year Plan (1956-57 to 1960-61)

A forward thrust was planned for development of heavy and basic industries. Further, the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 accepted the establishment of a socialist pattern of society as the goal of economic policy. The objectives of Second Plan were:

1. An increase of 25% in the national income
2. Rapid industrialization with special emphasis on the development of basic and heavy industries
3. Large expansions of employment opportunities
4. Reduction of inequalities in income and wealth and more even distribution of economic power.

Thus, the first decade post-independence saw a calculated distribution of wealth in agriculture and industries. While the first five year plan was the need of the moment due to severe food crisis, the second plan was a move forward towards development in other areas.