Loss of Culture, loss of identity

(An extract from the book THE QUINTESSENCE OF APATANI LANGUAGE (PRELUDE) released on 5^th July 2011)

 In the present context of Arunachal, “Loss of culture, loss of identity” is a popular maxim. Some people do understand and strive not to lose their culture and identity. But unfortunately many of us do not understand the saying completely. We hold this true and associate this maxim only to certain religions and misconstrue and misinterpret. Some people even make issues out of this and propagate them. But do we really understand what endangers our culture and what not? What really identifies me as an Apatani?

Even before we ponder on the factors that affect the loss of our culture, let us try to understand what ‘culture’ means and what is the difference of the bare term ‘culture’ and ‘culture of a society’. Word ‘culture’ is a term which is very commonly used but has very complex meaning. There are tens and thousands of definitions of this term but none of the definitions seems to be unanimously accepted without contention.  The derivation of the term and the multiplicity of the meanings attached to it; makes it all more difficult to establish a single universally accepted definition. The difficulty to define the term leaves us helpless but to just understand the term.   

“Culture is directly related to cultivation and the adjectives cultural and cultured are part of the same verbal complex. A person of culture has identifiable attributes, among them a knowledge of and interest in the arts, literature, and music. Yet the word culture does not refer solely to such knowledge and interest nor, indeed, to education. At least from the 19th century onwards, under the influence of anthropologists and sociologists, the word culture has come to be used generally both in the singular and the plural (cultures) to refer to a whole way of life of people, including their customs, laws, conventions, and values.”

Most of us misapprehend the equation or the difference between ‘culture’ of a society, ‘civilisation’, ‘modernisation’ and even ‘Westernisation’. I am no authority to sanction on this contentious issue, but as far as my simple understanding goes, culture should not be treated synonymous with civilisation, modernisation or Westernisation and nor should modernisation or Westernisation be considered as civilised or cultured. These are all different notions though there is a thin line difference at certain points where there seems exist interface amongst them. The discussion on these concepts could drag for pages, but here the discourse is only about culture, identity and its loss, we shall focus our talk to the focal point.  

The culture of any society is a result of evolution. Culture is dynamic, multidimensional and over all it is a continuous process. There isn’t and cannot be a single factor which corresponds to the loss or degeneration of culture or its gain, acceptance or purification. As I said, I am no authority, but my understanding says, the culture of a society has direct correlation with the language(s) spoken and the(se) language(s) spoken is one single factor which mostly affect(s) the culture of that society. Well, I don’t deny or despise the other factors which are related to and affects the culture of a society.

Language is the epicentre of cultural heritage of any society or community. Most of the Indian states are divided on linguistic basis and many more are demanding on this basis. Many organisations have demanded inclusion of their mother tongues and vernacular languages in the academic curriculum. Language purifications are being carried out. These are because they understand the importance of their languages. But what about we Apatani people? 

It is very easy for an individual to associate with others lifestyles but still maintain one’s identity: changes in wardrobes, modifications in housing pattern, shift of beliefs & faiths, disobedience to taboos, variations in outlook  and so on. But how can one maintain one’s identity if the loyalty of one’s mother tongue is shifted to other languages. How are we to have our conversation (what if there is some secrets to be talked about in public)? How are we to transfer down our folklores and oral history to the younger generations especially when there is no script? How are priests to chant incantations? How are we to designate different names for different referents (Babbó, Laapáñ, myoko, Murung, Dree…)? Our thought processes itself is governed by the language which is a unifying force. 

The question whether ‘language determines culture’ or ‘culture determines language’ has been debated over ages. Whatsoever might be the rationale behind the debates or the verdicts given from time to time, the fact that language and culture are intrinsically interrelated is very apparent and accepted by all–scholars and laymen alike. And here, talking about the ‘culture loss/identity loss’, I believe that preservation of culture is hugely dependent on the documentation and hence preservation of one’s language(s) follows with some additional meaningful efforts. In fact, “Loss of Mother Tongue is Loss of Identity”.

Arriving to the core issue here, the question to be contemplated over and over again is, “what really identifies me as an Apatani?” Is it the traditional dresses I wear; is it my belief in traditional faith; the traditional laws I follow; the traditional dances I perform; the traditional values, customs and conventions that I follow; is it this; is it that or is it the mother tongue I speak? I wholeheartedly agree that my identity as an Apatani is the superset of the whole subsets.

But in this fast changing modern world; where we are toddling to be at pace with the so called civilised world; can we maintain our identity in totality in conformity with the total superset? Shouldn’t we match with the tempo and fine-tune ourselves with the civilisation, modernisation and Westernisation in this era of globalisation and competition? Are we equipped to keep all our traditional values intake without any kind of assimilation or dissimilation? Unless we understand the importance of our mother tongue, we will fail to safeguard our culture and identity. 

Therefore, I feel that documenting our language is the least I can contribute in the ‘culture loss, identity loss’ scuffle. As a humble beginning, putting my thoughts into words, I am starting with publishing this book. This book shall be followed by other editions and series of publications on different features Apatani language.

This work of mine might seem worthless for some but I believe that someday when they realise the importance of our mother tongue, they will appreciate this insignificant effort. I consider this work as the first step from my side, stepping on which many might be stirred to climb higher rung in the preservation of our culture. I pray that let this spark turn to huge fire some fine day.