8/27/2017 Is colonial mentality hindering India’s success? – Paper of Thoughts..

Pen of Moods…

Paper of Thoughts.. Pen of Moods…

Is colonial mentality hindering India’s success?

“Aap ki bheti ki shaadi nahi ho rahi hai kya?

Kya aap ki bheti ko pilot banna hai lekin dark complexion suit nahi ho rahi hai?
Ye saare samasyonki parishkar ab bas sirf paanch rupiye mein.. Aur vo bhi pandra din mein
Haa aap sahi sunra he hoo..
Ab ‘fair and lovely’ cream chota pack mein..”
We come across such commercials every now and then in TV, Radio and cinema halls.
Isn’t this a manifestation of colonial mentality in the form of bias towards fair color against dark
complexion?

Two hundred years of British rule in India has profound impact on India that colonial mentality has left
significant imprints in all walks of life. Has colonial mentality helped in shaping India as a nation ? Or it
resulted in communal divide of tolerant Indian society? What kind of effect does it have on
contemporary education system? How far it influenced Indian way of living? Has it led to promotion of
English language at the expense of native languages which have been in existence for centuries? How far
it helped in strengthening our polity, administration? What is its effect on society, Religion? What
changes it brought to the games we play? These are some of the questions that will be discussed in the
following passages. However, before arriving at answers to those questions, it is important to
understand what is colonial mentality.

Colonial mentality

Colonialism is a phenomenon in which a country establishes its rule over another country with the sole
aim of economic exploitation. During this process the ruling country establishes political, socio economic
structures such that the ruled country becomes its colony. The rulers of colonial western powers had one
set of a itude. This is famously known as “white man’s burden”. They perceived colonies as primordial
societies, incapable of learning to transform themselves and it is their responsibility to reform them. If
this kind of mentality of rulers is one aspect of colonial mentality, the psychological imprints left on
minds of people of colonies is another aspect of colonial mentality. Perceiving oneself as inferior and
British as superior, in the process blindly imitating their culture, imbibing their a itudes is seen in this
aspect of colonial mentality. The political, socio economic structural changes brought by colonial powers
resulted in various a itudinal and behavioral changes which are seen even today. So roles of both
colonial ruler’s mentality and colony people mentality have to be analyzed on India’s successes and
failures.

Uniting and dividing – making of India as a nation

Colonial mentality of rulers was to look down upon the Indians

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Colonial mentality of rulers was to look down upon the Indians incapable of governing themselves.
Their economic policies resulted in hardships to all people of different regions, linguistic groups, castes
etc. resulting into a common struggle against them for self-government or ‘swaraj’. The oppressing
colonial mentality helped in raising conscience of Indian nationalism among masses and led to Freedom
struggle and helped in making India as a single nation which was earlier divided politically.

Even though colonial mentality helped in making of India as a nation, it also acted as hindrance to
national integration by creating communal divide in Indian society. The contemporary communal
violence has the roots in ‘divide and rule’ policy and favouring one religion, caste communities over the
other during colonial era.

Modern education – its effectiveness

Modern education was introduced by British in 19th century. Among other reasons such as to create
uniformity in administration and civil services which are loyal to the Crown, Colonial mentality of
‘white man’s burden’ or responsibility to transform the societies also one of the reasons for spreading
modern education in India. Though it succeeded in inculcating modern values of rationality, scientific
outlook among Indians, it acted as hindrance to educational development. Emphasis on contemporary
rote learning has roots in the same education system that was introduced by British.

English Language versus native language

Even though there are economic reasons and globalization phenomenon that are spreading English
language at the expense of native mother tongues today in India, the roots can be traced to love for
English language during colonial rule. The employability opportunities due to English education made
Indians embrace English language during British rule. To be educated in English was considered to be
proud. This resulted in slow erosion of native Indian languages, which have thousands of years of
history and literature. This is in contrast to other nations such as China, Japan where native mother
tongue was not seen as hindrance to modern education. Even in contemporary society, most middle
classes feel proud if their kids talk only English at home. Unfortunately, the same culture is spreading
now to other sections of society too. This is a baggage of colonial mentality.

Changes in Indian Life style.

Colonial a itude reflects even in every day Indian life. Clothing and greetings are some of the examples
that can be seen. Since they live in cold countries, western people wear suits for their dressing. As
mentioned before, the colonial mentality of Indians to look down upon themselves, their culture as
inferior and British culture & tradition as superior resulted in blind imitation of their clothing even
though Indians live in tropical nation and suits are not suited for the climate. It has become common to
greet or wish as ‘warmly’ or ‘warm regards’ in mails and le ers in India. Again as British live in cold
countries, these greetings are appropriate for them. Preference for gym fitness against ‘yoga’ is another
example. Interestingly, now there are more westerners who practice yoga than Indians, though ‘yoga’
originated here in India.

Cricket Versus Hockey

Colonialism played a negative role in the arena of Games & sports of India. Cricket was unknown before
advent of British. However, it got impetus at the expense of all other Indian sports such as Hockey,
kabaddi, Koko etc. India could win cricket world cup, but it is performing badly when it comes to its
national sport, Hockey.

Evolution of Indian polity

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Evolution of Indian polity

Colonial mentality has helped in a positive manner for Indian polity. It resulted in respect for human
rights, democracy, rule of law. These values were imbibed by Indians which helped India to transform
itself as a democratic country though many other nations who were born at the same time struggled to
nurture democracy. However, the colonial nature of over centralization of power at the at the top is still
continuing even after enacting 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments to form Gram panchayats and
urban local bodies.

Anti-racism and anti-colonialism – in foreign policy

Another colonial a itude of racism helped in a positive way in Indian foreign policy. Strong opposition
against racism and colonialism is an important parameter of Indian foreign policy. To that effect, India
voiced its strong concern against apartheid in South Africa and at other places in International arena.
This is one successful achievement in India’s foreign policy.

Administrative culture

Colonialism has mixed results in Indian administrative setup. On one hand, positively, it helped in
establishing strong institutions, civil services at all India level, but on the other hand it also resulted in
corruption and bureaucratic a itude of civil services. Policing system in India is quoted as best example
of colonial mentality by many. Originally conceived for maintaining law and order to serve the interests
of British, the nature to serve for the interests of political executive rather than for public interest is an off
shoot of colonial mentality. The bureaucratic mindset, corruption in public office, red-tapism all trace
their roots to colonial times.

Economic growth – is it sustainable?

Capitalism was one of the dominant factor for establishing colonies to exploit them by colonial powers.
The capitalistic mode of economy developed consumerism. It also gave importance to growth centric
models at the expense of ecology. Goods and services are accessed by their money value, even
relationships have become value based. It led to erosion of moral and ethical values in society.

Colonial mentality – its mixed role in India’s success

In this respect colonial mentality in two forms – one, as mind set of British, two, as a itude of Indians
due to colonialism – played a mixed role. It boosted India’s successes in making India as a nation,
providing modern education, taking up English language to become globally competitive, imbibing
values of democracy, helping in foreign policy, providing a strong ‘iron frame’ of civil services in
administration. However, it acted as hindrance to India’s success by creating divisions in society among
different communities, by promoting English language at the expense of native Indian languages, by
blind imitation of western culture and eroding unique Indian culture, by leading to corruption and red-
tapism in administration, by favoring racism in terms of liking for fair color, by capitalistic mode of
economy without due regard to mother nature and local tribes. There is nothing wrong in embracing
positive features of colonial mindset such as modernity, rationality and scientific outlook. However,
negative aspects of colonial mentality must be reviewed with original Indian mindset – of tolerance to
diversities, of Gandhian principles of decentralization – ‘swaraj’, of respect towards the nature.

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June 29, 2014June 30, 2014

 raju

8 thoughts on “Is colonial mentality hindering

India’s success?”

1. Priyanka ala says:

June 30, 2014 at 5:46 am
Nice one raju Garu..v also wrote almost on the same lines..many aspects covered.
I liked your intro very much..but m not sure if u cn use those hindi lines..what if s examiner in non
hindi speaking..

2. gkrishnasudhama says:
June 30, 2014 at 5:52 am
I think the essay covers all the relevant topics more or less. I will just give my scathing criticisms here
(they all are my subjective views as you know). So don’t pay a ention to them if you don’t agree
with them.
1) I thought that it would have been be er if you had wri en the starting advertisement in English. If
the person who is reading this doesn’t have the knowledge of hindi, then he may not get a nice
introduction to the essay.
2) I also felt that you could have concentrated on success more by defining what success means for
india or something of that sort. If the essay topic was ” effects of colonial mentality on India” – then it
would have been apt. But since the title specifically talks about success, you could have laid more
emphasis on it. Maybe another paragraph would have satiated my thirst.
3) The introduction was good. But the conclusion doesn’t match up to the level of the introduction.
The conclusion was more of a moderating paragraph.
4) I have some other technical points over which I would like to have a discussion. I will use other
appropriate media to do that.

3. Spirate says:
June 30, 2014 at 10:16 am
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June 30, 2014 at 10:16 am

Good essay overall! After thinking long and hard about how it could’ve been be er, here is what I
think–

1. The intro, like it has been stated already, is a bit risky. Translate the ad to English maybe? Or stick
to a safer one.

2. In your first paragraph, you are simply pu ing all your “subheadings” together. IMO, that is
underutilization of what is the most important paragraph of the entire essay! Use it to summarize
your thesis statement and explain the crux of your argument, so that the examiner can evaluate right
away whether you are on the right track.

3. In your next paragraph, you define colonial mentality. You can go into much more detail here. I felt
your bare-bones definition has stifled you throughout the essay. Spend nearly 2-3 pages on
answering– what exactly is colonial “mentality”? It is different from colonial “legacy” (cricket,
modern civil service, democracy etc. are more about colonial legacy than mentality). What happened
in the two centuries of British rule that gave us this mentality? Why does it persist even 67 years after
independence? Most of the country today was born in independent India, why would they still hold
this mentality (if you think they do)?

For example, you can talk here about how institutions like the police and bureaucracy, remnants of
the Raj, play a role in propagating one aspect of this mentality– that of respecting the rulers rather
than demanding from them.

4. In your future paragraphs, you talk about the impact in different areas. While I like that you touch
upon several areas, it appears like a laundry list of items. Weave them together and present a more
continuous story.

5. I think you are focusing more on how colonial “legacy” affects us today, more than how colonial
“mentality” does. This mentality means that we are more self-conscious and restrained. Lack of
“killer instinct”. Our image as a “soft power”, unwillingness to play a leadership role in the global
arena, and fairly weak position in global trade are the examples I can think of. At the same time,
colonial legacy means substituting our native values / practices etc. with external ideas.

6. Your distinction of colonial mentality in “two forms – one, as mind set of British, two, as a itude of
Indians due to colonialism” is a bit confusing and has probably led you astray. The essay is talking
about our country TODAY, and whether we are still being held down by our colonial mentality. So
talking about the a itude of British rulers back in the day isn’t relevant, IMHO.

4. Spirate says:
June 30, 2014 at 10:21 am
Also, I think this presents a golden opportunity for a China-India comparison. China has less of that
colonial mentality because they were never directly under colonial rule. They have be er
assertiveness and self-confidence as a nation. They’ve adopted some Western ideas, but haven’t
readily abandoned their own values/ideas. One could argue this has helped them surge ahead (you
don’t have to agree with this, but just examine this in the essay).

Also, don’t take the MIXED IMPACT stand. It makes the essay go bland. Nothing wrong with
writing a balanced essay, but recognize that it hurts us more than it helps or something, and take a
stand. Disclaimer: my feedback and opinion may not really be what the examiner is looking for

5. rishanth says:
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5. rishanth says:
June 30, 2014 at 12:55 pm
I think you have done a good job.I have very li le to add since most of it is covered by others.You
have covered lots of points, but you could have made it more persuasive by explaining how exactly it
is hindering our success.Secondly the paragraph on colonial mentality is a bit bland.You could have
explained even though colonialism ended why is the mentality still prevailing.Conclusion could also
be improved.If you want to moderate it a bit, add a paragraph before conclusion.I am a bit unse led
with the critique of capitalism.We can talk more over the phone about other things.
I am not an expert at essay.So please take my review with a pinch of salt.

6. srikanth palli says:

June 30, 2014 at 4:51 pm
colonial thinking led to ” absolute subordinatism” and ” irrational acceptance of authority ” in
people. the same also motivated powerful political elite to seek “concentration of power” into their
hands. this is the reason why police and administration are still under the absolute control of political
masters. this led to corruption. ” babu” culture among civil servants is another kind of complex we
can see as a result of this. even after 5 decades the much waited decentralization is not yet completed.
even after 6 decades the political elite wants to maintain absolute power by nullifying CIC’s directive
that seeks political parties to come under the scan of RTI. political class is much averse towards
police and administrative reforms. CBI chief recently complained that government had manipulated
the coal gate scam related papers. this concentration of power did not allow the powerful political
elite to follow the way….hence power got abused and criminalization is being promoted among
politics. the rights activists are being killed due to lack of safeguarding from government. police is
being felt as force….. hence lockup deaths and rapes…..a rare phenomenon that can be expected in a
democracy. we go to MLA or MP for resolution of our problems but not to the police. this just reflects
the same…. a colonial mind set. people rarely participate in movements for a major change and
majorly accept politician’s authority. hence no more pressure from down rungs. hence many
reformative ideas got failed….. to say, land reforms. and external affairs…. no more leading. we
rarely encourage merit. we rarely reward ethics. instead we respect loyalties and nepotism. this is all
just due to concentration of power. In an episode of Satymeva Jayate” retired DGP of Bihar said that
he had seen Rule of law only on papers but not in practice till then.this is all nothing but colonial
behavioral pa erns. farmer is looked down. teachers still demand absolute respect from their
students. boss demands everything. people rarely know that they have rights.

7. Shujaat says:
May 24, 2017 at 11:21 am
Please visit h ps://wayoutwords.wordpress.com for literary essays.

8. WayoutWords says:
May 24, 2017 at 11:23 am
Reblogged this on WayOutWords.

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