On the 17th day of November 2004, Sumitra Charatram, a living legend and institution builder, turned 90. A remarkable woman, she endeavoured through her life to entrench culture, and all the activity surrounding it, into the ethos of Delhi. And, she has succeeded. The greatest tribute to her on her birthday was that she had to vacate the Kamani auditorium, where she was being felicitated, by lunchtime to accommodate another group that had booked the space!

The Bharatiya (Shriram) Kala Kendra is a land-mark in this capital city. Congratulations to all those who participated in realising the dream.

Today, the kind of motivation that broke new ground and attained what seemed to be the impossible, is not visible to the naked eye. Our corporatewallahs seem to be disinterested in anything that has to do with indigenous ?culture,? happier with all that is alien and western shoo-shaa. The only traditional ritual they indulge in is the ?puja,? at home and in their offices, all in the hope that money and riches will come their way. Aspiring to model themselves on the western world, maybe our business community should learn some lessons about contemporary philanthropy as well. Where are the endowments for the arts? Where is the contribution to libraries and archival institutions, to museums, to specific chairs at our universities et al. Why do only jamborees get sponsored and nothing more substantial and on-going? Why is it all merely social? Are we just immature?

The root of all societies is their culture. It is the most valuable ?commodity,? the most essential input for all civilisations. When you begin to lose that sense of identity, or identities, as happens in a pluralist society such as ours, pride diminishes, assertions cease and a nation begins to take on the garb of being a stooge of another culture. A second best, if that. It is this degeneration of a culture that leads to exploitation, that forces people to support what essentially goes against their grain, that dilutes quality both of mind and soul. Greed and aggrandisement is what compels this societal deterioration.

• The root of all societies is culture, and it is a valuable ?commodity?
• The country?s privileged have let down the country?s ethos and culture

However, it is the poor in India who continue to embody the special values that made this civilisation endure and absorb all that came its way. That made it unusual and extraordinary at all levels and across the board. The privileged, with all they need to fulfil their hedonist needs, have let down the cultures and ethos of this country. They have done nothing of consequence to enhance and grow the many strengths enshrined here, or to ensure that cultural continuity and the passing of the baton is established. In some ways this careless attitude could be interpreted as irresponsible.

Our NRI biggies are equally lethargic about such cerebral aspects of life here and in the countries they have adopted as their homeland. They will buy extravagant homes in elite areas, will parade tradition when their kids get married but will find bizarre venues for the grand event which loses its sanctity because of the scale and cultural contradictions. But, with all the excess money in the world, they will not think or consider becoming part of a group that sponsored a great show at the V&A in London called ?Encounters?, as one small example. Neither will they think of an endowment for a wing at the National Museum. They will not even dream of sponsoring and bringing an internationally acclaimed Indian artist Anish Kapoor and his work to India for an exhibition. But, they will happily pay for Bollywood stars to ?trapeze? about at their events. It is sad but true.

It is time for all those Indian Richie Richs who appear in the Forbes list and other such tabulations, to give back to where they sprung from…or are they embarrassed about their culture and their roots? Are they running away from their values and their tradition?

If they are, that is fine, it is their personal prerogative… they should just admit it, not pretend to be ethnarks!

Maybe we will have to be patient and wait for the generation in their twenties today to build the new and vibrant institutions that will energise this country.