Before we begin discussing the importance, purpose or need for culture, let us first try to understand it by its definition. Culture is defined as the ‘characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts.’ Originating from the Latin word ‘ colere’, culture means to tend to the earth and grow, cultivate and nurture.

Why do we need culture?

Culture plays many roles, one being that of a social influencer. You can tell a lot about the culture that a person belongs to based on his/her views, values, humour, hopes, loyalties, and worries and fears. Culture is a strong part of people’s live and vice versa. Culture provides a sense of belongingness that brings

people together to celebrate or pray on the shared platform of a common a practice or belief. Culture acts as the big glue that binds individuals together building a sense of ownership, accountability and unity in the group.

It through our culture that we are able to trace back the origin of our identities. We are able to understand our ancestral values through it. Culture can be credited for giving us the very meaning of life. The diversity of mankind can be neatly organized and categorized by way of cultures that exist. It is because of culture that we are able to be unique from other parts of the world. It is ironically the cause for both a connect as well as a disconnect between people and communities.

In addition to its fundamental values, culture provides the society and community with many social and economic benefits. We imbibe the qualities of tolerance, learn different languages, get introduced to new customs, and find opportunities to come together with other. Culture enriches our quality of life is responsible for increasing the overall well-being for both individuals and communities.

In spirituality, the purpose of culture is the perfections of a human being. Practices that exist within the realms of yoga and spirituality help you grow as an individual in all the aspects of your being. Yogic culture gives you the freedom to do both good and bad, allowing awareness to grow with each passing choice.

THE HOLE IN THE KEY

A black hole about the size of our sun was discovered in the Milky Way galaxy in November 2019. The black hole was discovered by an international team led by the scientists at the National Astronomical Observatory of China of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The black hole, located 15,000 light years from the Earth, has been named LB-1.

A black hole is a region of space that has such strong gravity that nothing-not even light- can escape from it.  As a black hole does not reflect light, it cannot be seen and it appears black. Hence its name. The term was coined by physicist John Wheeler in 1967.

A black hole is formed when a giant star runs out of energy and implodes.(Not all dying stars become black holes. Only those with a certain minimum mass will become black holes.) It causes an explosion called a supermova. As a result, the star gets squashed into a tiny dot and has a mass 20 times to one million times more than that of our sun.

Even if a black hole is not visible, astronomers know of its existence because of the effect it has on matter around it. Stars that are very close to black hole behave differently from normal stars. Special space telescopes can detect black holes by observing these stars.

Astronomers believe that there are supermassive black holes at the center of almost all galaxies. The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is called Sagittarius A.

DID YOU KNOW?

YOUNG owls are known as owlets. Certain small species of Asian owls are also called ’owlets’. Examples include the jungle owlet and spotted owlet.