Issue task for GRE: For review

[GarimaSood]

To understand the most important characteristics of a society, one must study its major cities

A society is composed of people with different backgrounds, cultures, choices and virtues. Yet what loops them together and presents the society as a whole is local interdependence and a harmonious existence of all. People in small cities are well connected with each other for their livelihood and therefore development through local interdependence, while big cities are more influenced with global factors over the local factors. Hence, to understand the characteristics of a society, one must study its small cities.

Comparing a small city to a big city existing in India: In a small city like Lucknow, we can find generations living together in houses with common courtyards and kitchen gardens, festivals being celebrated together not just as holidays but evidences of rich history and guiding lessons for life, varied skill sets like cloth weaving, farming, pottery, etc. passed on from older generations which not only act as livelihoods but help build a close-knit self-sustaining society as well. On the other hand, a major city like Delhi has a different ecosystem altogether. Delhi’s economy is majorly based on the MNCs which attract workforce from different parts of the country and because people migrate to work in major cities, the culture is money based and relationships are more professional than personal. The “major city” is seen empty during festivals because 60% of the population in Delhi which is below 40 years and migrated, goes back home to celebrate with their families. Given the large population of 2 crore surviving on limited resources, people develop a money hungry and selfish attitude of surviving assuming their temporary existence in the city. Hence, as compared to Delhi, Lucknow is a better representation of authentic Indian society which is based on a rich cultural heritage, reverence for the elders and learnings from ancient scriptures passed through generations, attributed to their co-existence.

However, if we look at the perspective of growth and adaptation of the best, major cities are a good representation of a society’s success. A major city like Mumbai is a house to the top notch Indian film industry, companies from all over the world and well developed rail – road - air networks. Studying Lucknow on this aspect might not say much about the model of growth in Indian society

Based on above examples I believe that while big cities can give you a picture of growth, small cities are a representation of the roots of a society, which help understand how the society has evolved and its future based on the ethics inculcated in its basic element:  the people!