Re: [ALOCHONA] Increasing foreign influence on Bangladeshi culture

This article is such utter nonsense. Only a irony devoid & clueless business professor (presumably a believer in open markets) can make a case for shutting out external cultural influence without any shame.

 

Without making a case for hindi serials what have such bans have done for us. Just take a look at Dhaliwood industry which we protected from the Indians, what did we get? Really high quality stuff!

 

Banning all Indian artists!!! why!!!

 

They can only make our music and culture better and also we can influence the regional culture... A case in point, Bengalis were giants in Hindustani classical music (Sitar, Sarode, tabla, thumris, kheyal, ghazal) have all influenced Bangla musical traditions and vice versa. Bhatiali, Lalon, Baul have all influenced Hindi film music and classical too. Today the cultivation and learning of classical music is dead and moribund. Artists like Kumar Biswajit et al) need to work harder stop complaining. Life is tough get moving instead of whining like a cry baby.

 

The professor's lament is like the hands of the clock. They come back again and again. It's his predecessors
that warned of AngloAmerican cultural imperialism before. Now it's Hindi TV.

 

Get a life! only the Goebbelsian Isha Khan can get excited by this sort of garbage!

 

Robin Khundkar

-----Original Message-----
From: Isha Khan
Sent: Aug 22, 2009 6:50 PM
To: Dhaka Mails
Subject: [ALOCHONA] Increasing foreign influence on Bangladeshi culture

 

Increasing foreign influence on Bangladeshi culture We need to divert ourselves and look at what we have in our country and be proud of it, before we start looking at what others have to offer, writes Nadim Jahangir Cultural imperialism is rather widespread in Bangladesh. Rather than being proud of our own culture and heritage, nowadays, Bangladeshis are more inclined to either adopting or blindly following foreign culture. This is common among the younger generation of our country. Earlier, Bangladeshis were greatly influenced by the western culture. Now, the dominance of Indian culture in our society is very much evident and all credit for this goes to the introduction of satellite television in Bangladesh back in the early 90s. Bangladesh took a 360-degree turn from their previous preference of western culture to a totally new and rather prominent culture.    The media is an effective way of influencing people. But unfortunately, in Bangladesh, always the negative side of all good things seems to influence people the most. Before the revolutionary existence and supremacy of satellite television in the lives of Bangladeshi people, very few people had television sets in their homes. When satellite television service first emerged in Bangladesh, for about a year, only the affluent section of the Bangladeshi society had cable connection in their homes due to its cost. People used to stare in awe at the huge dish antennas on the rooftops of people's houses in the posh areas, mainly in the capital, and they often wished that it adorned their rooftops also. But this scenario changed quite soon. Some people exploited this as they realised that this is a great source of income and started providing these connections commercially in various areas. Soon it spread in smaller towns and eventually in the most remote parts of Bangladesh. It is still one of the most flourishing business ventures in Bangladesh at present. Even the slum dwellers have cable television connection in their slums. Really, Bangladesh is a land of wonders!    When earlier some people had an opportunity to brush up their English or to learn new words by watching English movies or programmes on the then only existing means of entertainment, Bangladesh Television, which actually aired really good US TV serials, the Bangladeshi people soon began to become addicted to the Indian culture. They ate, drank, walked, talked, shopped, and slept, Indian. They still do. As days passed, the number of Indian channels began to increase. Now there are more channels on air than there were channels on a TV set back in the 90s. Not only that the channels telecast round the clock.    The strongest influence of this culture is on children and women. There was a time when teenage boys never watched a single Hindi movie even on VCR (there was no DVD or VCD back then). Nowadays, from toddlers to men all watch Hindi programmes including movies. Now, this is called success with a capital S. Unfortunately, this success is not for the Bangladeshi culture, but for Indian culture.    Indian culture is eating up the creativity and productivity of many talented Bangladeshi individuals. Rather than expressing their own thoughts and ideas, they prefer to copy the Indian culture. The influence of Indian culture is rampant everywhere. Even Bangladeshi weddings are bereft of the Bangladeshi flavour which was the case before. Now there are Indian rituals involved with our weddings. Earlier when Bangladeshi weddings were limited to two holuds, a wedding and, a reception or maybe engagement ceremonies at times, now some people have wedding ceremonies which last for at least seven to ten days. There is a Sangeet ceremony, a mehendi ceremony, and some more such ceremonies. I wonder why? Is there any problem with our regular rituals that these have to be adopted as well? It's frustrating to say the least.    A group of culturally conscious people of our country are trying hard to protect our culture from the dominance of Indian culture. Now it has become a national demand to stop Indian culture from invading our culture. However, a certain group of people are working against this process. These groups on a frequent basis bring Indian singers to perform in Bangladesh and pay high remuneration to these artists. While we are struggling to save our artists, in such a situation for the Indian artists tickets are being sold at Tk 3,000 to Tk 5,000 — is this justifiable? Majority of these programs are organised in BCFCC auditorium or five star hotels. As a result, ticket price is high and it is not affordable for the general public. Only those belonging to the affluent society can enjoy the musical soiree. Even though we say music is for all but in reality it is out of the reach of middle and lower middle class people. Kumar Biswajit, Baby Nazneen, Asif and other local artists have on numerous occasions protested against organising expensive shows by the foreign artists. Organising these shows degrades the local artists. If the organisers put up shows with the local talented artists, then local public could have watched it at low prices. Moreover, it would have saved foreign currencies.    The revolutionary Hindi serial culture has had significant impact on our personal and social lives as well. There was a time, and maybe there still is, when people did not like to visit others because they would miss an episode of their favourite Hindi serial. The ladies in the house became most irritated when guests arrived unannounced when they were seated to watch their favourite shows. The ladies were, and still are, highly influenced by these serials. They are constantly thinking of the things that they saw on the shows. Some are even topics of hot debate. Many people have been seen to be arguing about the plots of these so called popular serials! The serials influenced some people so much that they behave like the characters. They dress and imitate the characters of the programmes.    Surprisingly, the Indian culture also has somewhat positive aspects. Some people earn a good living due to the dominance of Indian culture in our society. Many businesses focus on the preference of Indian items by Bangladeshi people and centre their business operation around that. For example, tailor shops are constantly getting orders to make dresses worn by some Indian actress. Same goes for beauty salons. Many people visit these places to want to get a haircut or a look like some actress. And the list goes on and on. Not to forget, there are the negative sides also. The once popular Benarasi saree is becoming nearly extinct because Bangladeshi women want to buy Indian sarees which are worn by Hindi serial actresses. They do not want to buy these traditional sarees anymore.    One may wonder why I am so against the Indian culture. I would not have been so bothered if these programmes had some substance in them. What do they mainly teach us? People who have watched some of the most popular Hindi serials which ran for a minimum of seven to eight years would remember that the serials mainly revolved around power, money, jealousy, extra-marital affairs and not to forget, the occasional reincarnation!!! Then there was the time travel part. A trend started when serials began to move a few years forward in time. That was the most hilarious part watching the actors look exactly the same as they did twenty years ago. The parents and their children and grandchildren seemed to belong to the same age group. Sadly, people accepted and digested this quite readily. My logic fails to explain how this can be possible.    I fail to understand what could be so interesting about these things? Compared to these serials, the Bangladeshi serials are so much better. Yes, they may not be full of glitz and glamour, but there is a bit of reality in them. The Bangladeshi serials do not teach people to suspect or hate one another or arouse jealousy in people. Bangladeshi programmes are centred on ordinary people and they reflect the real Bangladesh. But maybe not all the programmes are like this.    There are some Bangladeshi entertainers who believe that they would be more successful if they copied Hindi serials and not to forget the often rather objectionable and vulgar music videos. There was also a time when Bangla film songs were an exact copy of Indian film songs. There still is a lot of influence of Indian movies in the Bangla film industry starting from the plot of the film, the costumes, songs, etc.    Fortunately, things have started to change. Bangladeshi people, albeit not all, have begun to realise the true value and power of our own culture. Some people have begun to boycott Hindi programmes completely. But this will not be able to solve our problem. The Indian culture has sort of got mixed in our blood. Children who have been growing up watching these Hindi programmes fail to understand the true value of our culture. They are more into Indian films and songs. They talk and dress like the Indian movie stars.    However, I must admit that it would take many, many years before the Bangladeshi film industry would be able to attract people with this kind of mindset, to the theatres. Some people have been successful enough to draw the general mass into the movie theatres but that is only a handful. If the Bangladeshi film industry once again tries to make the kind of films that were produced in the 60s and 70s, rather than copying the Indian films, they would be successful in their endeavour to entertain the masses rather than the lower working class people.    The government must also step forward to change this scenario. When the Indian government is not interested to allow our Bangla channels to be aired in India, why is our government allowing Indian channels to be aired in Bangladesh? It is not fair. If they impose some restrictions on these channels, maybe then our local channels would also be more benefited. More people would be interested to watch local programmes, which are often a hundred times better than the programmes that are aired on the Indian channels. Moreover, Bangladeshi people have to be conscious as well. They should be aware of their own rights and values. They should not allow such discrimination to take place. They must not be influenced or guided by some other culture.    Our culture, our music, our language are so rich and vibrant. There is so much to see, listen and enjoy. We need to divert ourselves and look at what we have in our country and be proud of it, before we start looking at what others have to offer. We must not complain about the lack of variety or quality of the things which are available in Bangladesh. If people think there is any lacking or deficiency in our products, they must try to enhance them or encourage others to change them. They must not give up and turn away and look for substitutes from other countries. Only this way shall we be able to free ourselves from the evil influence of foreign cultures. This will also help us to prosper and reach new heights.    Nadim Jahangir is professor & director of School of Business at Independent University, Bangladesh http://www.newagebd.com/2009/aug/23/oped.html

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