There are two pillars of the cultural value system - loyalty to family and loyalty tocommunity. One should not be in isolation to the other, because, successful societies arethose which combine both harmoniously. As an Indian, I am proud to be part of a culturewhich has deep-rooted family values. We have tremendous loyalty to the family. Webelieve: Mathru devo bhava - mother is God, and pithru devo bhava - father is God. Thisis the essence of Indian values and one of our key strengths. Unfortunately, our attitudetowards family life is not reflected in our attitude towards community behavior. Theprimary difference between the West and us is that, there, people have a much bettersocietal orientation. They care more for the society than we do. Further, they generallysacrifice more for the society than us. This is where we need to learn from the West. Inthe West, there is respect for the public good. For instance, parks free of litter, cleanstreets, public toilets free of graffiti – all these are instances of care for the public good.On the contrary, in India, we keep our houses clean and water our gardens everydaybut, when we go to a park, we do not think twice before littering the place. Anotherinteresting attribute, which we Indians can learn from the West, is their accountability.Irrespective of your position, in the West, you are held accountable for what you do.However, in India, the more important' you are, the less answerable you are. Dignity oflabour is an integral part of the Western value system. In the West, each person is proudabout his or her labour that raises honest sweat. On the other hand, in India, we tend tooverlook the significance of those who are not in professional jobs.​