Shas­tri Boodan

Free­lance Con­trib­u­tor

For­eign in­flu­ences are slow­ly erod­ing and cor­rupt­ing T&T’s cul­tur­al foun­da­tions. This con­cern was high­light­ed by Pun­dit Kuldeep Gan­ga Per­sad, ex­ec­u­tive mem­ber of the Na­tion­al Coun­cil of In­di­an Cul­ture (NCIC), as it re­cent­ly con­clud­ed 38 Ra­mayan cel­e­bra­tions.

The Ra­mayan pre­cedes the NCIC’s flag­ship Di­vali Na­gar cel­e­bra­tions sched­uled to com­mence on Oc­to­ber 11.

Pun­dit Gan­ga Per­sad cau­tioned against the un­crit­i­cal adop­tion of for­eign lifestyles, par­tic­u­lar­ly by the younger gen­er­a­tion.

“For­eign cul­ture has been chip­ping away at the base of our cul­ture, forc­ing peo­ple to adopt a neg­a­tive lifestyle detri­men­tal to their well-be­ing,” he said.

He urged young peo­ple to pause and re­flect on the val­ue of idol­is­ing a lifestyle cen­tred on con­sumerism, which, he not­ed, can at times be de­grad­ing.

In­stead, he called on devo­tees to “re­flect on the teach­ings of the Ra­mayan and be strong—stay true to your dhar­ma.”

The pun­dit al­so ex­pressed grat­i­tude to Pun­dit Gee­ta Vahi­ni for her open­ing dis­cours­es, which be­gan the se­ries in Sep­tem­ber.

The cel­e­bra­tions con­tin­ue un­der the guid­ance of Pun­dit Ab­hedanand Per­sad.