In
a different way and in a different context, though, Nehru expanded
on this theme. In his address at the inauguration of the Indian
Council for Cultural Relations in New Delhi on 9 April 1950, he
said:
- One can see each nation and each
separate civilization developing its own culture that had its
roots in generations hundreds and thousands of years ago. One
sees these nations being intimately moulded by the impulse that
initially starts a civilization going on its long path, That
conception is affected by other conceptions and one sees action
and interaction between these varying conceptions.
Culture, if it has to have any
value,must have a certain depth. It must also have a certain dynamic
character. If we leave out what might be called the basic mould that
was given to it in the early stages of a people's growth, it is
affected by geography, by climate and by all kinds of other
factors.The culture of Arabia is intimately governed by the
geography and the desert of Arabia because it grew up there.
Obviously, the culture of India in the old days was affected
greatly, as we see in our literature, by the Himalayas, the forests
and the great rivers of India among other things. It was a natural
growth from the soil...
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