Traditions change with time

This is not a rant or advice. This is something I’ve observed and thought about a lot.

Societal and traditional values change with every generation.

For example, a good chunk of people in Tamilnadu perform a ritual called “Kaateri and Muneeswaran Pooja” before a wedding or childbirth in the family. They believe the ritual will protect the newlyweds and newborns from any harm.

My grandparent’s generation conducted these rituals in open spaces at night. They finished the poojai, ate cooked meat that was offered in the ritual, and came home without any leftovers. My parent’s generation performed the ritual in their backyard and carried the food and the leftovers inside the house, fearing mosquito and insect bites. When I got engaged, the ritual was performed on our balcony with store bought chicken dishes.

Traditional and cultural values evolve with our earning capacity, personal beliefs, demography, and the availability of resources.

This is applicable everywhere – family, society, workplace, and public spaces. What was considered wrong or taboo is considered normal now. Widows remarrying, dating and casual relationships, social drinking, wearing shorts to work, getting out of a toxic marriage, and so on.

I think as time goes by, a small part of the society in every generation questions the cultural practices and shapes them to fit their current reality. And, that slowly spreads to the rest of society. Most of the rituals and traditional practices today aren’t the same as how it were before, say, a thousand or five thousand years.

I think as humans we ultimately value convenience and as long as we do that, our societal and traditional values will continue to undergo such drastic changes. How much ever we try, we can’t stop this from happening.