What do u think is possible... a society ... termed as melting pot or a salad bowl..
A society can ever be termed as melting pot?... any society for that matter??
The Melting Pot is a metaphor for the way in which homogeneous societies develop, in which the ingredients in the pot (people of different cultures and religions) are combined so as to lose their discrete identities to some degree, yielding a final product which has a more uniform consistency and flavor, and which is quite different from the original inputs.
The US of A was 1st to be know as melting pot of various culture... the metaphor was attached to the US after a modernized adaptation of the play romeo & juliet was called THE MELTING POT.
But is it possible to have such a society... can people act in ways different to their cultures & religions??
I believe not... its not quiet possible..
A more reasonable way to describe a cosmopolitian society would be a SALAD BOWL
A Salad Bowl in which ingredients in the salad (people of different cultures and religions) are combined so as to maintain their discrete identities to some degree, yielding a final product which has a quiet unique in its own way, and which is not quite different from the original inputs.
I guess the latter is more approriate do describe advance societies.. like of the US & other developed nations....
So where are we heading... to a melting pot or a salad bowl??
Or for that matter, does melting pot exists??
I leave these questions open...
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In my opinion, Indians initially, were in a salad bowl environment.
ReplyDeleteNow we're seeing a slight trend towards coherent lifestyles among the middle class at least.
I still feel though, that we will never forget the salad bowl concept, no matter what year we're in.
Our culture is too strong and unique in its divisions to just .. melt into one.
yeah i think, in Indian context its very much a salad bowl.
ReplyDeletethe simplest thing to see around ourselves - our own class for that matter. we are spending most of our time with each other, and so strongly rooted to where we come from and maitaining an identity that actually differentiates us.
melting pot, would take generations to happen in the our country... and how many generations - i think countless.