The Cultural Power of India

The Greek Media are not famous for the independent and unbiased way that they are conducting their work. On the contrary, they have a not so good fame, for cultivating stereotypes and producing images that are far from the truth and the reality.  In addition, due to a pseudo-nationalistic ideology, they approach all the important new stories that occur internationally via a national lens.

This is the main issue why important countries such as India did not have the publicity that they deserve and only because of the occurrence of the Thessaloniki International Fair, the Greek media paid the respect that India deserves.

It is worth noticing that India’s success story, and its role as one of the leading economical forces of our time, has not been analyzed by the Greek Media the way it should.  In an era where our financial situation is interconnected with the other nations, not only in Europe but worldwide, the inability of the Media for a coherent analysis is striking and alarming.

In India’s case, the situation is even more interesting as India is the only nation worldwide that apart from the financial success that enjoys has a presence in every nation in the western world via the strong cultural heritage that serves as a cultural product worldwide and of course in Greece.

The most striking example of Indian’s cultural dominance is yoga, which is one of the most popular forms of intellectual and physical exercise in our home country, with yoga schools and yoga courses being the necessary, high-performance product for every gymnastics and fitness professional.

Along with yoga, India’s spiritual and cultural tradition has entered our society at a fast and intense pace, through books, seminars and courses focusing on the use of Indian philosophy, art, and medicine to solve modern psychosomatic problems faced by the  citizen of the Western society, such as stress, asthma, etc.

Focusing on now and the problems of today, as opposed to the theoretical theological and philosophical systems that have found refuge in the search for post-life dealing with heaven or hell, India’s philosophical tradition is a key mechanism for addressing chronic lifestyle and health issues. The ancient Indian traditions of Ayurveda, music and dance, philosophy and meditation, but also nutrition and aesthetics come to offer us an alternative and holistic solution at issues that the western society suffers from not now but for decades.

As it becomes clear, India is perhaps the only case of a regional power which in addiction with its financial power can play a vital role in the cultural and spiritual field without having issues of religious fundamentalism. This is the power of New India.

Cover photo: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi performs yoga exercises during the celebration of the fourth International Yoga Day in Dehradun.