Those were the days!

“Oh how the world has changed over these years!” I have often exclaimed.  Scientists have introduced us to so many newer technologies in the fields of medicine, engineering, electronics and household comforts for us.  But where the new generation is going in terms of the values that were imbibed in us when we were children, I wonder.

In those days of hardships, fewer educational and employment opportunities, one had to migrate to other larger towns, just to get ourselves better schools.  Having to stay with your uncle or some distant relative, whom we did not know, was a common feature. Often, higher education and job prospects were not available in the same town where your family lived.  In those days it was common to receive and extend such assistance for others’ betterment.

Core values of being respectful to others, sharing with others, learning from elders were imbibed in early childhood.  I was born in Bankikodla, a village  near Gokarn in North Karnataka, where there was no electricity, no gas, no running water in taps – but we never seemed to want anything. One was taught early about the virtues of being satisfied with whatever one had or received in life, without being too greedy for more.  Satisfaction, hard work and honesty were the basic tenets of the teachings that were given prime importance. As a result, one often found many families living within their means, happily and still sharing whatever little they had with others in the extended family and neighbourhood.

I feel greatly disappointed that these three words – satisfaction, hard work and honesty, that I mentioned, are hard to find in the world today.  There are more gadgets, more conveniences, more sophisticated appliances, but we seem to want more – we are never satisfied with what we have.  While the present generation has seen upward mobility of late, I wonder whether they have learnt what excessive greed for money can lead us to?  Greed seems to have no limit! Something that we all were taught early in life was to avoid greed and lust, in those good old days when we had nothing that you see around in abundance. 

What is even more worrying is the amount of money that is handed over to young children without even asking what the money was being spent on! No wonder, such trends can only lead youngsters to take to vices and lead them astray and increase the crime rate involving youngsters.  Pocket money should not be given to children until they learn the value of the money that has been earned by the working members of the family.  Children should be taught how to spend it and asked to account for the money if they have to be given in any case.  Teachers and parents should imbibe the value systems that have stood the test of time so that the future generation will be good, honest and hardworking citizens.

“Never talk rudely”, we were told.  “Always think before you say something and don’t hurt others’ feelings.” We would always be warned that a word could not be taken back, once uttered.  We always obeyed our elders.

TV serials and movies portray rude behaviour, cunning and scheming family members trying to grab property and cheating each other of their money even within their own family!  I wonder how such serials that our electronic media broadcast would be affecting the teenagers and the young children watching such programs? I remember the serials of the yesteryear, especially those directed by Sai Paranjape and some others, which taught the youngsters about the value systems of our society.    Such simple stories with good moral teachings are a rarity these days.

Even the news channels beam the shockingly violent behaviour of our elected representatives, who throw objects at each other, besides horrifying accounts of police personnel beating up petty criminals mercilessly.  One also learns of rapes and murders of minors – even infants, of late!   One really wonders what drives our young individuals to commit such heinous crimes blatantly.  Such incidents were not heard of in those days!  Should the electronic media not introspect about the manner in which they cover such incidents both in reality and in fiction? 

We, citizens of India should feel from our heart that we should never damage any trains or buses or throw stones at our own fellow-citizens, as we are destroying our own property and hurting the trust and faith of our own people by these actions.  Instead of causing riots and planting hatred in the minds of our young people, our leaders should show youngsters the way to be helpful to each other and stay united as good Indians, in both good and bad times.

Only then will our country really prosper.