Customs and Traditions

Man is by nature conservative and it is very difficult for him to change quickly. This nature is not so bad after all; for it helps in the continuity of the race and also their identity. Thus by customs and manners, we are able to distinguish the different people in different parts of the world. The European nations are not so tradition bound, but among them, there are peculiar customs and manners which help to identify the French from the German and the Italian from the Spaniard. How these customs have grown comes from historical, geographical, and ethnic conditions.

With the coming of science, these customs and traditions are fading. People are able to mingle easily and customs are getting universalized. Look at the expression, Thank You. Wherever English is spoken and understood, everybody knows the value of this phrase. But the same may require different expressions in different languages of the world.

In spite of the growth of science, customs and traditions still linger on. It is very difficult to obliterate them. In a small group, they give the `we’ feeling. They make things much easier within the group. Take the marriage customs among different peoples of the world. They are so different as to make them meaningless or even silly in the eyes of others.

There are certain customs that positively harm the health and welfare of the people. There are people in the world who still believe that: smallpox is caused by evil deities or forces. They would avoid getting themselves vaccinated if they can help it. There are people who think that their food can get polluted if someone looks at it. So these people would starve while traveling by train because other passengers might see their food.

Some people would willingly draw water from a dirty river or canal for drinking while the clean water from the tap is ignored because others are taking water from it. Some people keep their sick in dark and ill-ventilated rooms not knowing the value of healthy air. To add to the misery of the sick they sometimes keep an oil lamp burning in the room and shut the windows, quite unaware of the fact that the burning lamp will consume quickly whatever oxygen is available in the room.

In the disposal of waste and garbage, people are quite careless and follow the traditional way of dumping them somewhere near the house such that rodents and flies can multiply. Even in the case of the so-called educated classes the old customs still linger. They shut their eyes to hygienic principles.

Not all customs and traditions can be branded as harmful or detrimental to progress. Customs which cannot stand any scientific scrutiny must be discarded for good.