Reinstatement of Morals

Nowadays almost everyday we come across incidents of rape and sexual abuse in our country. There has been a upsurge of such incidents. We can see perpetrators of heinous crime roaming all around. Such incidents have definitely created an environment of fear. Whenever such incident happens a lot is said and discussed about. Ultimately parents end up instructing their children about various precautions to be taken every now and then.

Friends my concern is ,if we go a little back say 15-20 years there was a much more safe environment around. Schools were considered to be second homes and we always felt so secured and carefree. I am not saying such incidents were not happening at that time but the number was comparatively much less. Our parents were not required to keep a continuous trail. All unknown men were not looked upon with a doubt.

Today the condition is so bad that “nazar hati durghatna ghati” (a liitle carelessness leads to accident) .We can’t send kids alone to play even in societies. We need to keep a watch on their behavior, their schedules ,all people who interact with them every now and then. Women especially have a double pressure-taking own care plus care of their kids.

Globalisation and technological revolution has proved to be double edged sword for us. Whilst the Indian society has benefited a lot from this revolution in the form of information, jobs, modernization of society it has created a lot of unrest also.

As the Indian society has progressed, it has gradually shifted its preference from being culturally rich to being economically rich. There has been a demographic shift. People leave their hometowns and migrate to bigger cities and abroad in search of good education and employment opportunities. In this process preference knowingly unknowingly shifts from family to work and materialistic accomplishments. Children and youngsters are exposed to a world never imagined before in the form of games, entertainment avenues and lifestyle changes. If they have strong emotional and mental support from family they can understand the good and bad sides of all the dynamic things happenings around. Otherwise there is always a possibility of them being pushed in state of confusion and chaos.

Conversations with parents around really make me conclude that new generation kids are really more aggressive in their behavior .They have so much information at their disposal that they are in a state to discuss, negotiate ,stress their opinions and demands from an early age. They tend to believe that everything is possible. They find comfort in virtual world if real world doesn’t please them. Flexibility, compromise, respect, understanding, maturity may somewhere go missing in life of children if not inculcated from early stage. Such kids become more prone to self destruction if something doesn’t happen according to their plan or wishes as they grow up.

Sexual abuse, drug abuse, self destruction, corruption are some of the reflections of the section of Indian society which is engulfed by inferiority complex, depression, jealousy, dissatisfaction. Friends in general also if we see around we will come across so many small-small incidents which make me really wonder about our value systems.

At workplaces I meet people who casually and so naturally speak lie day in day out to cover up their inefficiencies or laziness. Instead of accepting their mistakes and completing the work they prefer to tell and carry burden of false statements for months or years together. I have seen such behavior is part of normal corporate culture. As a student I always believed that good knowledge leads to good and efficient work and ultimately good results. But reality is much different. Only good knowledge and good intentions are not enough to do good work. Due to extreme competitiveness most of the people have become self centered and many don’t shy away from being shrewd and compromising on moral values to safeguard their interests. Honesty and hardwork cant always sustain in such work environment. New recruits need to acquire diplomacy even before acquiring requisite technical skills. People who can’t withstand this pressure are vulnerable to depression, constant irritability and may resort to various forms of addiction.

Extra marital affairs, separation among couples due to breach of trust is also heard more often now a days. We can see people seeking temporary pleasures and comforts constantly.

Parents are left alone in latter stage of their life when they need their children most. Growing number of old age homes is proof to changing mentality of children who shy away from shouldering the responsibility of their dependent parents. Sometimes there may be genuine reasons but in most of the cases children put their priorities before parents need in such cases.

Even our community helpers are seen indulging in range of wrong activities from stealing to serious modes of crime.

Friends I feel all these changes in society around us is somewhere showing the weakening roots of our value system and weak conscience of individuals.

We used to have a compulsory moral science class in school and regular evening sanskaar warg(classes educating values). I never understood the significance of moral science at that time. But today I strongly feel inculcating strong moral values is real need of hour.

There is constant bombarding of sexual, materialistic content on all modes of communication. Educated class can handle and process such content rationally. But small children, youngsters and illiterate class may fail to do so.

Earlier joint families helped in breeding healthy environment at homes. Today scenario is different. Children may feel alone and vulnerable if both parents are not constantly available. They may start seeking comfort outside their homes. Need is to make them understand basic life values since childhood and creating an environment where they feel mentally and emotionally strong and secured.

I feel we can have small clubs where there are regular sessions for children. Recitation of certain shlokas have multiple benefits and helpful in mental wellbeing. Such clubs can conduct Moral storytelling, recitation sessions for all kids. Playing small games can inculcate values of sportsmanship and acceptance. Friends I feel seniors in our society can play a very critical role in such kind of activity. We all see festivals as holidays and fun. But we can use such festive celebrations as an effective tool of inculcating good cultural and social values amongst youngsters. Family bonding on such occasions can foster spirit of positivity, togetherness and comfort amongst youngsters. Even at workplaces we need regular training sessions to make employees realize the value of good moral qualities for progress and peace of individual as well as organization as a whole.

This kind of value based education should reach illiterate section of society if we have to reduce the crime rate. Onus is on educated class to train the uneducated mass around and set proper examples. For e.g we can start from our household levels imparting such education to our helpers. Our helpers are constantly observing and imbibing us. If we can sensitise them about moral values like respect, trust, compassion and self control they will definitely feel encouraged to follow same at their homes. This can be a chain activity and over a period we can see transformation in society around. I know this process is long and slow but atleast we can do our bit and be a part of change.

Friends just signing petitions for change will not serve the purpose of curbing or eliminating crimes. Real change demands change in mindset which is result of strong humane and moral values.