Thread by @shrikanth_krish

Sometimes I notice a revulsion in many sections of Indian elite against "Statue building"

It is "wasteful", "puerile", "unproductive" and so forth.

It is often said - how can a country as poor as ours waste money on "statues"

I feel very very differently (Contd...)

https://twitter.com/ajit_ranade/status/1056081187649728513

First - In our obsession with the news cycle, we forget one thing

India may be poor relative to US, Japan or even China

But the India of 2018 is the richest that India has ever been!

I repeat - Never before in the past 4000 years has India ever been richer in per capita terms

Second - Much much poorer societies than us have invested in monuments and temples, and these have proved to be very fine investments, rendering their epoch immortal!

Eg : The society of Raja Raja Chola was perhaps not even 1/5th as rich as Palaniswami's Tamil Nadu in PCI terms

Yet Raja Raja left behind great monuments and temples which have immortalized both him and the culture of his time.

Literature is far less effective in "eternalizing" a certain epoch

Languages can change. Scripts can be forgotten. In fact at the beginning of the 19th cen, we had no clue of even reading many ancient inscriptions, as Brahmi had not been deciphered

But statues, monuments and temples will remain with us. And can serve as symbolic powers that can unite a nation for centuries to come

It is worth noting that Ashoka's "Lion capital" at Sarnath atop a pillar, inspired the founders of our republic 2200 years later, causing them to adopt it as the "official emblem" of the country

Sure. Ashoka could have desisted from that investment, and instead used that money to subsidize healthcare or give free food

That would have been a FAR FAR less productive use of the exchequer.

Today, if we take inspiration from say the Chola kings of 1000-1200 AD, it is primarily on account of their great building efforts.

Sure, there is a great deal of literature too from the period. But the greatness of that empire stems from the great Chola temples. Period

India today is perhaps anywhere between 5 to 10 times richer than in the era of either Ashoka or Raja Raja Chola.

And yet, we have these public debates that discourage even very minor building efforts - relative to the glorious accomplishments of the past

This revulsion towards "building" and creating national monuments, in part stems from the culture of materialism and "sensuality" that privileges the present over the future.

We have increasingly become a society concerned with sensual pleasures of the moment - we want to figure out ways to make more money to splurge the coming weekend.

But how we'd like to be remembered in 3000 AD? That's a question not often asked.

Don't we have a stake in that generation which will live in the India of 3000 AD? They will be our flesh and blood.

Don't we seek cultural continuity? Would we not like them to practice our religion? Speak our language? Study our heroes?

At least I do

And investing in statues, tombs or temples is the most cost-effective way of ensuring this.

We tend to scoff at the idea of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. But guys, spare a moment and think

This is a legend who has been adored by the masses of this country at least, I repeat at least for the past 2500 years if not much longer.

Would we like him to be a footnote in his own city in say 3000 AD?

Can we say with genuine indifference that we do not really care if the people in the Ayodhya / Faizabad region revere Shri Ramachandra or Jesus or Flying Spaghetti Monster in 3000AD?

I am not indifferent. I care

And if most Indians feel similarly, then isn't the expenditure of a few tens of crores for a grand temple far far more important and worthwhile, than using it for an ephemeral dole-out program?

Civilizational continuity in my view matters. Culture matters.

I don't want to have a society that cares for just the food on the plate everyday, and the binge plans for the weekend.

I wish a society that cares for the legacy it leaves behind for future generations.

The counter to this will be -

Hey...think of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Think of food, shelter first

My view is - Maslow's hierarchy is an idea emanating from "liberal", "progressive" ideology

Indian history is testament to the fact that even the most destitute people have "cultural" needs and a taste for high culture.

Some of the greatest writings in Bhakti literature were composed by very poor, near-destitute men.

Moreover once you focus exclusively on "material" pleasures, you can never have enough of it.

It is hogwash to think you graduate to "higher needs". The pull of "sensuality" is very strong. The more you get it, the more you need it.

We become a society of gluttons

A society should never be judged by how much money it makes per year.

Its true measure of greatness is its level of cultural and spiritual aspiration, and its ambition to transcend its own era

We remember Rome today for its Colosseum, the Maison Carree, the Pantheon, and its many great architectural wonders

These living structures have provoked many a westerner in later centuries to study Roman rhetoric, Roman literature, Roman law.

That would not have happened necessarily but for the living memory of the ancient civilization left by actual physical structures of imposing magnitude and style

This is in sharp contrast to say the Vedic age in India - a period of considerable cultural and intellectual achievement. But an age that did not invest in large imposing structures.

Unfortunately because of the lack of architectural evidence, the Vedic period has often become subject to misinterpretation and mischaracterization - and often gets reduced to the realm of mythology, as if it never existed.

I wouldn't want the India of 2018 - a very great civilization in its own right - to make the same mistakes as our forbears did before 500BCE.

Let's stop being apologetic about statues, temples and monuments.

They are essential for eternalizing us in the history of humanity