The headline of this morning’s newspaper hit me between the eyes-Bitten, battered, abandoned, 2-year-old battles for life in ICU. It jolted me out of the soporific stupor that I was still in, as nothing else could have. What have we come to, just where are we headed? And as if on cue, all those other stories/news/ events/incidents one heard of came back like a cascade. Horrific tales of a father drowning his five-month old daughter, a mother killing her two kids before hanging herself, a daughter conniving to loot her home and kill her mother, a son murdering his father for property, siblings shooting each other, school kids killing for petty reasons, wives murdering their husbands with their lovers’ help and husbands hacking wives, grandparents being killed by grand children, honour killings, neighbourly squabbles ending in mayhem, men being shot for paranthas or petrol…not to forget the countless stories of the old and the infirm being either abandoned during their lifetime or killed mercilessly in their solitary existence!! Just where have we come? Has sanctity gone out of every relationship, is there any depth of degradation that has not been essayed by this so-called supremecreation of God?
If we look under the surface of this all-pervasive malaise, this festering wound, a few facts stare us in the face. We have definitely come a long way and there’s no questioning the advancement made in every field. But somewhere along the way, we’ve lost out on things precious: age-old value systems, the sanctity of relationships, the unshakeable bonds of family and the almost-extinct emotion called contentment. Now, no matter how much we have, there’s a craving for more. Nothing is ever enough: there’s always another property to be acquired, another million to be earned, another laurel to be won by our offspring (who are being driven to crazy limits to fulfill dreams vicariously), another feather, so to say, is always waiting to be added. Keeping up with the Joneses has gained humungous proportions; very unhealthy for us but sadly, we don’t realise this. It is as if material possessions have taken centre stage and human values are fast being relegated to forgotten corners of our existence. From high speed cars to fancy iPhones, from branded clothes and designer watches to exquisite jewelry, from holidays in exotic locales, luxury cruises, five star experiences to adventure sports …pursuing all this is fine and there’s nothing wrong in any of them. If it weren’t for the fact that somewhere in the jungle of crass consumerism, human values are fast losing out.
Delving into the reasons behind these socio-economic and psychological changes is an expert’s job but anyone with eyes to see can tell that frustration and simmering discontent are rampant today. There’s a seething rage, a sense of misdirected fury that is the outcome of not being first in the rat race- which leads to most of the existing maladies. There’s a churn happening in society where norms have done a 180 degree turn, and with Mammon having become the driving force, things have gone completely haywire. Frustration and failure give way to rage, rage to violence. And violence-whether domestic or in public places-spouse-beating or road-rage killing-reveals its ugly head everywhere. Added to the sense of not achieving all that we want to, is the ‘quick gratification’ mindset that has taken over. We want everything at the press of a button, there’s no patience, no tolerance and sometimes, no effort. It is as if the instant virtual, global connection that we’re able to establish at the click of a mouse has alienated us from the real world where ‘waiting’ is a harsh reality.
Another factor that has contributed heavily to the sense of inadequacy stemming from unfair comparisons is that eternal saga of man’s quest for El Dorado- the mass exodus from rural to urban terrain. The old-world innocence and sense of contentment that characterize a simple life fall easy prey to the glitter and glamour of the city. The pressures of coping with daily challenges and not being able to measure up to one's own expectations add to the sense of failure and worsen matters. The result, more often than not, is violence.
Huge economic disparity is another aggravating factor and also the most common cause behind themaking a fast buck mentality. In this era of economic growth and prosperity, when we proudly boast of over 55 billionaires in the latest Forbes list, the numbers below poverty line are still staggering. In modern-day India, with its impressive high-rise buildings-concrete jungles of steel, glass and ceramic, there are millions of urban homeless living on footpaths and in parks, in compounds of shrines, sometimes even in hume pipes… The chasm is too wide, the gap un-bridgeable.
And, in the midst of it all, the question that mocks and baffles is: how do we address this mindless aggression which seems to have come home to stay?
There’s no point in denying the cold truth that violence has made insidious inroads into our world. Instead, we need to face facts and try and do something about it. No longer can we shrug responsibility, saying most of this is not applicable to us or our immediate circle, what should ring alarm bells is that we are very much a part of the same society that is guilty of all these inhuman happenings. What can we do-what are we doing-in the face of such atrocities, which are digested easily because they’ve become staple fare? It’s time we shook off the aura of complacency, our carefully erected walls of false security, and did something. Even if it’s a small step like bringing such incidents to light, raising our voices against the perpetrators, ostracizing them from all social institutions till the law takes its course, making them social pariahs….and doing anything else that seems like a possible solution.
Only a revolution from citizens like you and me, which will surely and steadily gain momentum, will expel the darkness and herald the dawn of a new era.
Point to ponder... on this, our 63rd Republic Day.
