Westernisation

Westernisation, as defined by M.N. Srinivas, means the changes in Indian society and culture that came from over 150 years of British rule: in technology, institutions, ideology and values.

It took two forms:

• a westernised sub-culture: a small group of Indian intellectuals who adopted western ways of thinking and living;
• a general spread of western traits among many people: dress (shirts, trousers), food (tea, bread), technology (radio, TV, phones), furniture, and ways of living.

But copying external forms does not mean adopting western values like democracy and equality. People may use the most modern technology for very old prejudices: for example, using ultrasound machines for female foeticide.

Art changed too. Raja Ravi Varma combined the western oil painting technique with Indian themes. He even painted a matrilineal Nayar family as if it were a western-style nuclear family of father, mother and child, showing how western ideals of family were spreading.

Srinivas generalised that it was the upper castes who westernised first. But this does not always hold:

• In Kerala, elite members of the Thiyya caste (not an upper caste) consciously westernised, adopting western education and dress to escape caste humiliation.
• Naga families in the north-east took up western dress, music and religion.

So tradition and the west mix and match: people choose some western ways and keep others, in ways that depend on their own situation.