Page 276 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Unit 12: Processes of Change

supervising their curricular and extracurricular activities, and worrying about their future careers Notes
absorb the energies of parents.
These changes in family system occurring among the new elite groups are, however, somewhat
offset by other forces. In large cities such as Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta and Madras, voluntary associations
tend to be formed on the basis of language, sect and caste, and these make up in some ways for the
loss of a traditional social and cultural environment. In a city such as Delhi, for instance, practically
every linguistic group of India has voluntary cultural or other organizations which try to recreate for
the speakers of each language their home environment. Concerts are held, plays are staged, harikathas
are organized, regional festivals are celebrated, and regional politicians and other celebrities are
welcomed. There is also a certain amount of residential clustering on the basis of language, and this
is achieved even in housing projects built by the Government of India and which ostensibly do not
recognize regional claims in allotting flats and houses! A homesick South Indian or Bengali likes to
rent an apartment in an area where other South Indians or Bengalis live, and soon there come into
existence shops selling the spices, pickles, vegetables, household utensils and cloth he was used to in
his home area. The social network of an educated, white-collar South Indian or Bengali who is living
away from his linguistic area does include many people who speak a different language, but those
who speak his language will perhaps preponderate in it. To obtain a seat in a school or college or a
job for a relative or fellow townsman, he may have to approach a Hindi or Punjabi speaker, but he
does this usually through intermediaries who speak his own language.
Nevertheless, the traditional environment that is recreated in a big city differs significantly from the
environment that has been left behind. It is a freer, more cosmopolitan and streamlined version, and
it lacks the rich detail, complexities, rigidities, nuances and obligatoriness of the traditional
environment. Besides, it caters more to the parental generation of immigrants than to the offspring
generation. The latter do not think of their parents’ natal region as “home”, and many of them dislike
visiting it even for brief periods. Their participation in the local culture and institutions is far greater
than their parents. Occasionally, marriages cutting across the linguistic and caste barriers occur
between them and local folk.
The processes of secularization and politicization have also affected monasteries and monastic heads.
I have in mind not monastic or other organizations which came into existence during British rule (for
example, Ramakrishna Mission, Arya Samaj and Sanatan Dharma Samaj) but traditional and pre-
British monasteries such as those of the Smarthas, Sri Vaishnavas, Madhvas and Lingayats. Gradually
the feeling has grown among educated Hindus that the wealth and prestige of these organizations
should be used for promoting education and the social welfare of the people; this is one of the reasons
why acts passed by state legislatures giving the government considerable powers over the
administration of temples and monasteries have not evoked more opposition. The Lingayats, a highly
organized sect, have shown much sensitivity to this new demand, and Lingayat monasteries operate
their own hostels, schools and colleges. Land legislation has everywhere abolished concession tenures
such as zamindari, jdgirdari, inam and jodi. Those who enjoyed such tenures have been paid
compensation and the land has been sold to former tenants and lessees. (Lands which were under
the “personal cultivation” of zamindars were exempt from such legislation and, as could be expected,
many of them took advantage of legal and even extralegal, loopholes to retrieve as much land as they
could.) In many states, land held by temples was also affected by this legislation:
In Orissa, the High Court upheld the compulsory acquisition by the state, with the
payment of compensation, of lands which had been dedicated to a Hindu deity
(Chintamoni v. State of Orissa, A.I.R., 1958, Orissa, p. 18). In Mysore, the Religious
and Charitable Inams Act of 1955 empowered the government to resume lands
which had been assigned by the maharaja to religious institutions; as compensation
the state now makes an annual payment to the institutions. A number of state
legislatures are presently in the process of fixing ceilings on land holdings. Uttar
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Assam and West Bengal have agreed to exempt
temple lands from these ceilings. In some of the other states, especially in South
India where some of the wealthiest temples are found, a maximum has been fixed
for temple land holdings, although higher than that for individual landowners.

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