Greet, Cheer, Clap: Mutuality in Indian Civilisation
Jawhar
Sircar
New Indian Express, 17 February
2021
Civilisational
studies are quite complex as each one is quite unique or else it would not
qualify for the term. Basically, cultures represent organic responses of a
people to the requirements of their ecosystem, both organic and inorganic.
In India, for instance, we really do
not wish “good morning” and “good evening”, except to a westernised clientele
or (in recent times) to colleagues. We hardly ever greet our family members or
helping hands. Many, of course, insist that we have traditionally greeted
people with Pranam or Namaskaram or Vanakkam or Sat Sri Akal or something
similar. But there is hardly any supporting evidence from our literature and
records in pre-modern times about its daily and universal use. This is
certainly not an indictment — it is only a fact that reveals a trait worth
noting. For instance, when we shop, we exchange no pleasantries as in the
western world, but get straight to the point. One is now told that we had
greetings like Jai Shri Ram or Radhe Radhe, but one hardly notices people
saying so even now, except perhaps in certain small pockets or to provoke
Mamata Banerjee. Eric Hobsbawm has explained that all over the world ‘old
traditions’ are invented all the time, and then bestowed retrospective
respectability. Caste or class often mandated that peasants and artisans salute
their ‘superiors’ (while ‘untouchables’ were kept out of sight), but then this
was not ‘greeting’ — it was social subjugation. In Muslim societies, however,
greeting others with Adaab or As-Salam Aleykum appears more common, but here
again, several other factors also mattered. The point that we make is that as a
people we have, by and large, not been habituated to greeting each other and
the mutuality of relationships does not appear to have been so critical, as in
other cultures.
Let up now examine another closely related
trait: clapping, that we made real use as one more post-colonial habit. Despite
this, we are surely among the most unenthusiastic and non-energetic clappers in
the world. Our root languages, Sanskrit and Tamil, as well as the languages
that were inspired by them have words for clapping. But our literature hardly
mentions its public expression as in cheering performing artistes or
competitive sportsmen. Even the tales of archery or wrestling that we hear of in
the hoary past were contests limited to just a few aristocrats. In fact, we
hardly hear of grand games or athletic competitions in our history. Though we
built glorious stupas, monasteries and temples, we have no archeological
evidence of public auditoriums or stadiums in ancient India. Nothing like the
Greek amphitheatres or Roman stadia or the Colosseum. Several mandapams
attached to temples were used for the performing arts, but except the two
mighty Chola temples, their circulation area was usually small and constricted
by pillars. Even the dance and music halls in pre-colonial palaces were
restricted, with a purpose, of course. We are not discussing rare exceptions
like the hall of the Thirumalai Nayakas of Madurai and the later palaces built
in the 19th and 20th centuries. Classical music and dance
were, of course, limited to the classes and not meant for the masses. Creating
public spaces for performances and sports does not appear to have been a
cultural priority, nor was cheering.
We may mention here that, in the
social history of mankind, open public events, clapping and cheering have
played quite an important role. Sociobiologist
Desmond Morris says that
“when we applaud a performer, we are,
in effect, patting him on the back from a distance." Among the oldest
texts, the Bible mentions several times that people clapped in approval when
kings were appointed or at public events. Rulers acknowledged this affirmation
of support as it conferred greater legitimacy. Ancient Greeks also used this
mass communication technique at their public forums and amphitheatres, equating
clapping with auditory voting. In his book, Gestures and Acclamations in
Ancient Rome, Greg Aldrete actually confirmed that "This is how rulers gauged
the people...... (and) it was a poll of their
feelings." Roman emperors are known to have taken public enthusiasm and
frenzy at the Colosseum to barbaric levels. On the whole, clapping and cheering
encouraged contestants to excel and also helped integrate
societies, by instilling group conscious and participation. The stratified,
status-determined society of India may, however, not have required them.
The only
major examples of public clapping we can recall are during bhajans and when
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu broke out into his ecstatic dance and song. But these
examples actually reinforce the postulate that clapping does assist human
bonding and breaks down social barriers. The Vaishnava movement of medieval
Eastern India attracted masses through rhythmic songs played to the
beat-stirring hand-held musical clappers, the khartal,
and the earthen mridangam-like drum called khol. There may surely be other
examples in pre-modern India, but the fact remains that our history does not
highlight mass involvement at large public performances and sports.
Let us
remember that when we fold our hands firmly in a Namaste, we also ensure that
touch is impossible. It is quite possible that Indic civilisation succeeded in
bonding incredibly diverse ethnic groups into one, maybe because it imposed its
own rules of coexistence — and ensured distinct boundaries, clamped hierarchies
and maintained exclusivity in communication and contact.
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