Share
Dr. Anungla Aier[/caption]
Dimapur, Feb. 3 (EMN): Baptist College of Kohima observed its 9th ‘cultural day’ on February 1, at Ura Academy Hall in Kohima. The theme for the event was ‘our culture, our values,’ a press release from the organisers stated on Sunday. Dr. Anungla Aier, director of the department of Higher Education, attended the occasion as the “guest speaker,” the updates stated.
The press release was issued by the culture study centre of Baptist College.
Delivering a discourse on cultural values, Dr. Anungla Aier began by pointing out the complexities in coming to a single definition to what culture or cultural values really mean, the updates stated. The reason is, it encompasses all aspects of life, the beliefs, values, behaviours, customs, material object, governance and much more. She said that culture can be conceptualized as a man-made environment and that culture forms the foundation on which a community’s values are grounded, the updates stated.
Values, she said, can be seen from two levels, individual and collective values where the latter, ie., the shared values of a society, will always transcend over the former. Collective values form the core values of the society and are inseparable from the cultural values, but while cultural values take time to change, social values change faster.
The speaker also reminded about how Nagas promote community-based culture unlike western culture ‘which is individualistic.’ So, she said, young people should be able to discern what cultural base any new value might be coming from and be able to maintain one’s own cultural identity.
Culture determines people’s perception and shapes behaviour and attitude; but for survival and progress, change in culture is inevitable, the gathering was told. Dr. Aier clarified that change does not mean forgetting one’s cultural root. She was said to have lamented that the people were on the verge of losing their cultural roots for which there is the need to ‘treasure what we still possess.’
“The sum total of our culture is the accumulated knowledge of our elders”, she said. She exhorted on how our everyday life should glorify our cultural values and to live out the values is to preserve our culture and tradition. Stating the importance of cultural values she stressed on how educational institutions and especially the teachers can play a big role in imparting and promoting the same.
Dr. Vizovono Elizabeth, convenor of the college’s culture study centre, talked about the aims, objectives and purpose for the establishment of the centre at Baptist College. She said that “our culture is our identity and to lose one’s culture would mean the loss of one’s identity and that it is a fallacy to confine culture to the ways of our ancestors alone, for how we live today also constitutes our culture.” Culture is not just beliefs and practices but also values such as honesty, integrity, hard work and diligence which form the core of culture, the updates quoted her as having said.
The challenge is to impart these kinds of values to the younger generation by providing opportunities for interaction between the elders and the youth, she said, adding that the “cultural day” was being observed with said concept in mind.
Students performed various dance and music items to the gathering during the event, the updates stated.
Further, the winners of an essay competition on the topic ‘Merits and demerits of social media on our culture,’ which was held prior to the event, were declared. Baptist College is said to observe ‘cultural day’ every alternate year and is one of the biggest events of the college, the press release stated.