Culturally

Elitist?

What about Popular

Culture?

An Introduction to Cultural
Studies

Lonely Planet An Excerpt on

Culture
( Exoticization)

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Etymology Word
Origins

Contextualization
of
Industrial Revolution
Culture
Mechanization vs
tradition

Culture seen as the opposite

of Nature (binaries)

Culture idea of cultivationmicrobiology and biology.

Eg. Diagnostic tests
available for influenza
include viral culture

Culture and Civilization

Culture become/grow in
manners/ reference usually
to an individual

Mechanical vs
Cultural

Craftsmanship vs
Mass production
(Chinese)

Culture Aesthetics

What culture means in the

present context
Culture

is the mode of generating

meanings and ideas
Meanings are often governed by
power relations
Elite culture controls meanings
because it controls the terms of the
debate
Non-elite views of life and art are
rejected as stupid and useless

Anatomy of a liberal: Indian liberals do not offer

solutions, they use the term as a class marker

In discussions of Indian politics on social media, two distinct

camps make the most noise. One of them is the right-wing
camp. These people call themselves nationalists. As a
derogatory term, this camp is also referred to as bhakts,
sanghis and chaddiwallahs in reference to their love for
Hinduism and support for BJP, Modi and RSS (which uses
outdated and unfashionable shorts in its uniform).

The people giving these labels belong to the other camp. They
have quite an elegant term to describe themselves liberals.
That sounds like a bunch of intellectuals sipping tea and gently
persuading each other with deeply intellectual arguments.
Nationalists, on the other hand, sound like frenzied activists
beating their chests on the streets.

Chetan Bhagat

However, let me tell you what those who call themselves liberals truly are. Our lovely liberals
usually have no clue on what India should actually be like, whether on matters of economic
policy or of secularism. They never have solutions, so it is hard to put a finger on what they
truly represent.

However, they exist, and operate in a predictable, herd-like manner despite claiming to be
freethinking intellectuals. So, who are they?

These liberals actually are people who grew up with a certain amount of privilege compared
to their peers. This class privilege comes not only in terms of money but also the level of
English medium education they received and the world culture.

Remember the kid in school who brought hotdogs in his tiffin when you didnt even know
what a hotdog was? Remember the boy in class who had been to Disneyland, while you were
waiting for your next birthday to go to Appu Ghar (if you were in Delhi, of course)? These kids
grew up and had a huge advantage over other Indians.

Chetan Bhagat
They

had better connections, spoke superior English and could blend in

well with the upper classes because of their cultural exposure. To be
above the riff-raff allowed them the best jobs and more importantly, a
higher stature in society. These privileged kids could identify other
privileged kids, and liked to stay in each others company.

Since

differentiating themselves was important, they began to look down

on almost all things liked by non-privileged Indians. Vernacular
languages, for instance, were considered a sign of lower class. Someone
speaking English with a local Gujarati or Bihari accent was mocked (while
someone who spoke English with an Italian or French accent was seen as
exotic and romantic).e they were exposed to. Hinduism was seen as a
backward religion followed by the lower classes. Since Indians have a
class system ingrained into them anyway, the privileged kids created
their own class and happily lived in that bubble.

Chetan Bhagat
Alas,

over time India progressed economically. Talent came into demand and
privilege mattered less. As merit and talent earned jobs more people had
money, even though they perhaps lacked the global cultural exposure the
privileged kids had received.
Also, the talented kids felt no need to belittle the local culture, language or
religion. This created a relatively large class of proud nationalists the
economic growth seeking generation of Indians who were perhaps not so
well exposed to world culture.
The privileged kids felt insecure. They ganged up as one and re-branded
themselves as liberals. Calling themselves secular, inclusive, tolerant and
conveniently forgetting how class conscious they are, they claimed to save
India from the Hindu invasion. Quick to attack any Hindu fundamentalist
trespass in the name of secularism, these liberals would not be found
attacking Islamic fundamentalists the same way.
They claimed to be modern and fair, but one would rarely find them
speaking out against Islamic diktats that militate against gender equality.
Liberal discussions on Godhra riots never touch on how Islamic
fundamentalists burnt trains with passengers inside.

Chetan Bhagat

There is a reason why liberals are derogatorily referred to as pseudo-secular, pseudointellectual and pseudo-liberal. For their agenda is not to be liberal. Their agenda is to
look down on the classes that dont have the global culture advantage.
If, for instance, Modi and Amit Shah had gone to Doon School, or studied in college
abroad, or at least spoke English with a refined world accent, the liberals would have
been kinder to them.
The sad part is we do need, quite badly, a class of real liberals and intellectuals in our
country. We need people who have new ideas and solutions as well as a desire to be
truly inclusive for all Indians. Hating Modi is not going to solve anything. Neither will
looking down on the less privileged and their desires and aspirations. Instead, come up
with ways in which Indian society can truly change.
If you want to be truly liberal and intellectual, then stop pointing fingers and making it a
Congress versus BJP game. Figure out solutions we need to implement as one society
be it a common civil code that supersedes any religion, a common agenda for
economic reform, English for all or improving educational facilities for everyone.
Dont depend on the politicians to do it all, for they have to defend their jobs and hence
vote banks first. If liberals and intellectuals in civil society can build consensus for
reform, politicians will also act on it. If you are planning to become a liberal, be solutionoriented, truly open-minded and anti-elitist. Sipping tea from fine china cups is optional
(and totally fine, of course).

Response to Bhagat

Dear Mr Chetan Bhagat,

First of all, thank you very much for lightening our mood by writing
this extremely funny blog about Indian liberals. We all had a good
laugh. Allow me to clean your spectacles and help you see things
clearly.
1. You say our "lovely liberals" have no clue on what India should be
like. Let me break this to you gently, I am not lovely. And I am a
liberal. Deal with it.
2. Unlike you, I did not study in a prestigious institution like the IIT.
While you probably spent your summer vacations preparing to get in,
I spent mine toiling in the fields of my village in the badlands of
western UP. I am a liberal. Deal with it.
3. I am a member of the OBC and have spent my entire childhood in a
one-room house with four other family members. My teenage years
were spent at a place where an 18-hour daily power cut was the
norm. There goes your privilege and class argument for a toss. I am a
liberal. Deal with it.

Response to Bhagat
4.

I passed out of a government school and I don't speak English the way
you do, let alone in a French or Italian accent. I speak English in a
western UP accent. I am vernacular. I am a liberal. Deal with it.

5.

I did not know what a hot dog is, even during college. You surely went
to schools where kids brought hot dogs for lunch. I am a liberal. Deal with
it.

6.

Some of my schoolmates went on to sell boiled eggs on carts and steel

utensils. I don't exactly have the privilege of an old boys' network to
leverage, if you know what I mean. I am a liberal. Deal with it.

7.

Forget visiting Disneyland, my family could not even afford Appu Ghar.
You, it appears, did manage to take a ride. I am a liberal. Deal with it.

8.

No, I was not exposed to "world culture". The only culture I had access
to was patriarchal, and casteist. I am a liberal. Deal with it.

Response to Bhagat
4.

I passed out of a government school and I don't speak English the way you do, let alone in a French or
Italian accent. I speak English in a western UP accent. I am vernacular. I am a liberal. Deal with it.

5.

I did not know what a hot dog is, even during college. You surely went to schools where kids brought hot
dogs for lunch. I am a liberal. Deal with it.

6.

Some of my schoolmates went on to sell boiled eggs on carts and steel utensils. I don't exactly have the
privilege of an old boys' network to leverage, if you know what I mean. I am a liberal. Deal with it.

7.

Forget visiting Disneyland, my family could not even afford Appu Ghar. You, it appears, did manage to take
a ride. I am a liberal. Deal with it.

8.

No, I was not exposed to "world culture". The only culture I had access to was patriarchal, and casteist. I
am a liberal. Deal with it.

9.

As a person with scientific temperament, I have contempt towards all forms of religious conservatism and
the politics born out of it. I am a liberal. Deal with it.

10.

Inspite of my modest background, I managed to become an IT professional and got to work in different
continents. This was possible because of the liberal India I grew up in, and the one "lovely liberals" are
fighting hard to preserve today.

am not an exception, there are many like me.

You

ask liberals for solutions. Understand the problem first

Representation Signs,
Symbols and Metaphors

Representation -The
Ubiquitous

Modules in Culture
Studies
Identity
Class
Gender
Race
Nation

In order to develop fluency in Cultural Studies terminology,

students will become familiar with the vocabulary of the field of
Cultural Studies, including its basic terminology: for instance,
power& agency, identity & subjectivity, Marxism & ideology,
modernity & post-modernity, hegemony & resistance, theory &
praxis, colonialism & post-colonialism, myth/symbol & semiotics.

Students will discover the contours of Cultural Studies as a field of

inquiry, situating their learning within explorations of the
disciplinary and historical context of the field.

Students will learn to use interdisciplinary critical perspectives to

examine the diverse and sometimes contested meanings of
cultural objects and processes, establishing a basic knowledge of
the theoretical paradigms of Cultural Studies.

Students will learn strategies for connect cultural knowledge to

everyday life and practices, gaining a preliminary understanding