How long is long?

Years back, a young boy with long hair was confronted with a question about his hair. Long hair was considered quite a taboo then and our protagonist had his hanging down his shoulder. He asked back, “How long is long?” Well, I am not trying to be a pro or anti long hair but I had another question pop up in mind, “How civilized is civilized?” as we all consider ourselves more civilized, developed, refined than our ancestors. I know of people who pride in their great Indian culture and traditions, be it gastronomic inclinations, musical heredity or personal hygiene, despising others as less dignified and savage. I am aware of yet another group who consider themselves more civilized owing to their higher education, enviable lifestyles, and ‘broader’ mental perspectives. And when someone arrives on this land from the ‘civilized’ west, he or she finds India a place of ‘weird’ customs and costumes quite alien to theirs and immediately feel ecstatic being at the centre of uncouth and crude conglomeration of barbarians. Is being civilized mean the state where you find yourselves higher than the rest of the populace isolated and self-centered, obsessed with the betterment of the self? Or is it the state of mind regardless of the surrounding conditions when you can tolerate weaknesses and clumsiness of others around you, where you see yourself as weak as others but is keen to be a blessing for them with the limited resources you are provided with? Isn’t being civilized a glorious state where one can overlook a few mistakes, look beyond the exterior into the beautiful hearts and forgive people around? Think about, I will exactly that.