EAST IS EAST, WEST IS WEST AND NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET

Introduction

East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet’ is not a very common saying known only to the person of the imperialistic front. This saying indicates the inner feeling of the citizens of an imperialistic country. This clearly sings the superiority of the West over East in culture, tradition, art and literature. This also throws some flashing light upon the contempt which Westerners cherish in their heart for the Easterners.

This notorious and spiteful saying is the part of a poem of Rudyard Kipling. He deliberately and mindfully composed this line to show the hatred of his nation towards the people of Asia. Actually, the people of the East are by nature tolerant, absorbing and free from any trace of malice in their heart for anyone. This simple nature of Easterness, full of tolerance and hospitality excited the poet to utter this sentence. The doctrine of ill-will and contempt of the poet is based on his false pride on his wrong and incomplete knowledge of the Easterness. Actually, the leaders of the West were intoxicated by power and vain feelings of superiority and so they did everything to prove the so-called truth of the poet that East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet.

Superiority of East over West

If history is read realistically, we shall find that actually the Westerners, were ‘tricklish’ and materialistic, so they subjugated innumerable countries of the East and put them to all sorts of trouble and insulted them too. They exploited the people of the Eastern countries. For centuries the people of Eastern countries groaned, moaned and sighed on account of the foreign yoke of slavery imposed upon them by virtue of force which the Westerners commanded.

But in spite of the claim of the West of a superior culture, tradition and civilization, the East has been the light given to all the foreign countries. It was the East which nourished the culture and civilization long before the West saw the rising sun of civilization. No doubt, in the East there were bundles of contradictions yet there was unity in diversity. All the nations were tied in one thread of culture, the thread being unseen but very strong. There was the cultural development here and together with it, the East enjoyed a great degree of socio-economic and political freedom also. There was no rivalry among them. All the nations and countries were united together, tied together with the soft invisible but very strong thread of goodwill, friendship and co-operation. All were united on account of their trade, commerce and culture. There was free trade among them-As such the East was not inferior to the West.

The reason of exploitation of the East by the West

The East was far advanced in everything and it surpassed the West in many things but there was a very vital lack in it. It was the absence of the national feeling and zeal. This lack become the cause of their exploitation The West exploited them and took great advantage of it. They were clever enough to win the Eastern communities to turn them in to their colonies to gain their material end. The East has always been full of raw materials. So the West ruled over the East only to get sufficient amount of raw materials for their industries and factories. The Westerners did everything in the colonies not because they wanted to benefit the people of the East but because they wanted to be powerful and wealthy and they wanted to raise their standard of living. They never cared to improve the condition of the citizens of there colonies. They always tried to turn them into a perfect slave and develop the slavish mentality. They also tried to create a gulf among the people so that bitterness, hatred and malice might increase among the people. They were successful in their attempt and so the people were never united together to fight out for their freedom. This was the reason that the Westerners proved themselves to be superior. to us.

The rise of nationalism in Asia

Asia and Africa were ruled by the foreigners, the Westerners for hundreds of years. But a time came through too late, when the feeling of nationalism arose in them. This rise of nationalism in these countries is a very recent phenomenon. The people woke up after a long sleep. They realized their pitiable condition and political slavery. They felt the vices of the Western rule and also the urge of freedom arose in their heart. Some revolution-successful revolutions broke out in the Western countries Three of them the French Revolution, the industrial Revolution and the Russian Revolution-opened the eyes of the Eastern people. Revolutions took place and wars broke out. So many Western nations become free. This proved to be a helping weapon to the people of the East. They also demanded their rights and liberty. In 1937, the Asians Relations Conference took place and in 1945 the Conference of Asian and African leaders took place at Banding. Now the big personalities decided not to yield to the Western people in any case. They also declared their determination to promote better understanding, good will and co-operation among themselves.

Awakening in India

India suffered slavery for centuries but the day was not far off when she produced a band of leaders who with their real selfless devotion and determination freed the country. Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru proved to be more than Gods here, Gandhiji and his disciple Pandit Nehru declared ‘Hate the sin not the sinner.’ The fight for freedom started. Gandhiji intensified this fight for freedom more rigorously from 1921. Gandhiji launched many movements and he along with his colleagues Pandit Nehru. Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Shastriji etc., went to jail several times. They had to suffer unbearable sufferings. At last, India became free in 1947.

Now India became the member of the Commonwealth getting the position of equality. On the very day of freedom, Dr. Rajendra Prasad declared that now the relation of India and England would rest on mutual goodwill and co-operation. Thus, India got its for mer position of the ancient times. The East proved that the East and the West may be united together and disapproved the theory of Rudyard Kipling that East and West cannot be united together.

Conclusion

The East desires an equal partnership with the West to maintain peace and order in the world. Now all the colonies of the West are destroyed and all the nations of the East are enjoying political freedom. Now equality and mutual friendship is governing the relationship between the East and the West.

“Now the East and West shall never meet” has become an old and outdated theory, Now the days of Rudyard Kipling have gone into oblivion, Now the tide of history cannot be turned back. The East has proved that it is not inferior to the West in any respect. The East has proved that twain shall meet freely for the common cause of peace, progress, freedom and propriety of mankind. The contemptuous feeling of the West about the East has been ruined. Thus the East and the West can meet together now.

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