Cultural Attitude and Poor Interpersonal Relationship

Margaret Gangte *

Map of Ganga River Basin

Bihar was the ancient Mauryan Kingdom. The famous Nalanda University of Buddhist learning center is located here, Buddha was born in this ancient place and many heroes of ancient India filled with stories of valor belonged to this ancient kingdom situated in the valley of the revered river, Ganga. The place produced one of the largest numbers of bureaucrats and politicians next to UP which is also on the river Ganga valley. The resource rich region is endowed with one of the richest cultural and historical heritages of the country.

The rich background could not make the Gangetic plains the richest and most developed; the region recorded an all time low poverty level. The present Chief Minister of Bihar known for his good governance has turned around the state development but may not be able to move the state forward to the expected level unless the people from top to bottom level change their cultural attitude. The political governance in UP has been perpetually in big question and with a young Chief Minister now in place, it is hoped that UP will follow the example of Bihar.

In India, people from Ganga-Yamuna belt are less trusted than others. In the Northeast India, Indians bear very poor image because of the large presence of laborers from the northern belt who do not display credibility to the people. I could substantiate this opinion based on my personal experience and it may not be an overstatement to say that poor interpersonal relationships in workplaces on several occasions are caused by persons who are stated to be most of the times from the revered rivers Ganga - Yamuna plains.

Today, we continue to hear about the inhumane treatment given to the backward groups particularly from the two most backward states, namely Bihar and UP. These two states are feudal, backward and poor economically and socially. The cultural factor appears to be hugely responsible for this poor condition.

The argument is not meant to demean a particular group of people, it is an attempt to establish the relationship between a particular cultural attitude to an abysmally backwardness at the psychological and material levels. The backwardness often manifested itself in petty politics or sadistic attitude which generally makes the doer very wretched.

In the overall poor profile of India, the majority of illiteracy and poverty are from the Gangetic plains and worse still is the psychology of this educated class who show no quality education in their attitude and behavior. Clearly, with 80-90 percent people still in darkness, the few top at 10-20 percent with the right attitude to live in harmony could hardly make a dent to change the system.

The answer to the problem lies in expanding quality education to all categories of people besides the universal program to educate all citizens with the main objective 'to change attitude' and for the government to take strong measure ( not just on paper but also in action) to counter any form of discrimination. The big question is, will the government have the 'will' to do it. This piece is presented as a learning lesson to introspect the problems in each culture by the respective world communities.