Hindus welcomed people from abroad and were open to new ideas for their living. Hindus are the only country that gave shelter to the persecuted people from all over the world, including the Parsees, the Jews and the Tibetan Buddhists and Bangladeshis till today. Yet it is easier to say "take the best of both worlds" than actually doing it. Culture is a living organic ecosystem. One cannot just impose an alien idea or practice on a culture, it has to fit into the system as if it were as organic as a part of our own body. Hindus did not simply take things from the outside, but assimilated them and adapted them to their own life and culture which was already very rich and diverse.
During the last thousand years of foreign invasion and foreign rule, Hindus have lost a lot; most importantly dynamism. During this period the society had to work hard just to survive and allowed maximum ossification to protect it. As a result, constant reform, which is the hallmark of the Hindu society almost stopped until the last part of the 19th century. The time has come for Hindus to look through the lenses of 21st century needs to help remove unnecessary and evil practices not only in India but also throughout the world.
Today, some people may like to call the Indian culture as a composite one, or even a culture put together by invaders. This is misleading. The culture of Bharat rests firmly on spiritual and yogic principles today as it did in past. Even non-Hindus in India reflect these influences. Unfortunately a small class of people who controls the affairs of the nation, having faith in and guided by Western ideals tries to create a culture of different type, sometimes in the guise of what is "modern" or "progressive" (which is neither a complete replica of the West, nor completely away from Hindu culture). The art, literature, music, and other forms of entertainment such as films are influenced by these people. Many current forms of expressions and entertainment, which sometimes pass for art and culture in India are far from Indian culture.
Although the mud and the jungles are left behind by the flood of hostile battles of past, majority of India still remains the India of Ram, Krishna, Sita, Draupadi and Shiva Parvati. Even the Christians in India maintain Hindu cultural aspects. Churches are using AUM and Saffron, doing "pooja" to Jesus. So called communists are no less religious and continue with mantras and rituals. Therefore it seems like the current phase of confusion is temporary and slowly India is going back to her true Dharma.
The popular Indian movie culture is a show of malnourished people. Finding nothing better to appreciate, it engulfs anything it finds on the way. It mimics others but cannot digest, because its stomach is not built for certain types of food and the society suffers from cultural malnutrition. The land has become free from foreign rule, but the cultural alienation still exists among her elite, as the trend was set by the first Prime Minister himself. But fortunately the shapers of the destiny of the nation today are not just these elite, but also a large number of truly cultured people, those who have Samskaras and promote Samskriti, who are joining a new cultural awakening of the nation.
