Sunday 5 August 2012

To take up from where I left , we are always rushing nowadays, and while I do the same I stop and question it sometimes. We were never in a hurry or saw any of our elders in a hurry in the days gone by. People worked then, they do now, what had changed is the pace perhaps because of the innovations and discoveries in the last few decades, or maybe people actually believe that the world will end soon. The former should hold true , the pace at which technology, for example has grown and keeps growing is one such example. As children there were no washing machines, no televisions, no computers and no cellular phones. We did very well without them and perhaps because of them we had a much happier childhood full of innocent joys.As technology came into our space to make our lives easier, we accepted it and with our growing years, so that the first ever TV program to be viewed at age nine was wondrous but when it became a daily activity (closely monitored by parents) it was not such a big deal. Nowadays children will not know the wonder of watching a black and white screen for the first time. They will not know how watching Edwin Aldrin landing on the moon, screened on a cloth screen in a square in the market place looked so awesome, because now there are so many space endeavors that it is just another piece of news to be discussed for a while and then move on to the next.

Technology has made so many changes in our lives. It has made living easier but has cost mankind dearly. We are careening at a heady pace on some path, a path which has no end, the turns and the twists of which we ourselves do not know but we want to get THERE and in our hurry we have lost a lot. We have degraded nature, have become selfish as now what matters is ourselves and not those who matter to us.

We watch news stories which upset us, but they are just another piece of news.Discussions ensue but they remain just that and never proceed to action. While children keep falling into open manholes, one such is just five paces from where I live next to a school. No action will ever be taken, unless there is an accident. Cynics all, selfish and inert.

I have traveled out of the country but thrice, the difference is stark, there is commerce there too,but along with that there is a civic sense which shows that people care about the other and their community. Why do we lack this? My personal view is(it is open to debate) that the inhabitants of this largely agrarian country have the attitude of a person residing in a village..... we may have become city dwellers but have not left our rural background behind, so small cities and bigger ones too where the influx of people continues become large unkempt villages in the shape of towns.

We call ourselves the human race but in the race to be the best we are losing what is most the most essential part of us, the human being.

We hear stories of violence,we watch wars on television we see happiness of victories the instant they happen, we are concerned about the changing climate, we connect with people like never before, the world has shrunk before our eyes,in this shrinking world somehow we have lost our very concern for that which sustains us. We pray to trees but cut them without blinking an eye. We pray to Gods and Goddesses who are accompanied by animals as their 'vahan' (mode of transport for lack of any other phrase),and we mistreat those very animals. We pray to Mother Goddesses but we have don't want girls as children. In a land where there in ancient times learning was venerated, the uneducated population is shameful in the extreme.

While we assert ourselves and strive for excellence in all fields, let us just step back and think about what it has cost us.

This shall continue... as the picture is not so bad, there have been social and political changes which have made for a more confident population.

5 comments:

kala yadav said...

dear nandita ji ,
माफ़ करियेगा जरा हिंदी मे अपने आप को ज्यादा सुविधाजनक महसूस करती हूँ ,आपने जो नैतिक प्रश्न उठाये है एकदम सही है हम जब छोटे थे तो यह सब सुविधाए नहीं थी तब शायद हम अपना विकास ज्यादा अच्छे से कर पाए ,दूरदर्शन बहुत ही कम घरो मे पाया जाता था एक रविवार को फिल्म आती थी तो और छायागीत उसके लिए हम बच्चे इतने उत्साहित होते थे पर अब ऐसा नहीं आपने सही कहा की हर घटना जो हमारे आस पास घटित होती है वह हमको अब उतनी दुखी नहीं करती हम उसे रोज़ घटने वाली घटना समझ के छोड़ आगे बढ़ जाते है कितने संकुचित हो गए है हम जैसे एक क्लिक पर दुनिया सिकुड़ गयी है हमारी भावनाए भी वैसे ही सिकुड़ गयी है हमने अपने आप को चार दिवारी मे न जाने कब कैद कर लिया मालूम भी न पड़ा | क्या जो महानगरो मे रह रहे है उनका दिल घबराता नहीं , क्या कुछ खो दिया नंदिता जी यहाँ इंसान ने ,कभी कभी मन उन्ही दिनों मे वापस जाने को करता है कितना अच्छा था जब इतनी सुविधाए नहीं थी पर सुकून था एक दुसरे का दर्द समझने का वक्त था |

yogesh sharma said...

Nandita ji

Excellent written, many aspects of life you have highlighted

regards
yogesh

Unknown said...

कला जी, ऐसा भी कहना सही नहीं होगा कि हम दूसरों की पीड़ा समझते ही नहीं लेकिन हाँ कुछ हद तक और शायद यह बड़े शहरों में ज्यादा है की वोह जो पहले ज़माने का अपनापन था वोह अब नहीं रहा! किसी के घर जाने के पहले फ़ोन कर के पुछा जाता है की वेह मसरूफ तो नहीं हैं. या फिर हम इतने busy ख़ुद हो जाते हैं की मिलने का वख्त ही नहीं मिलता. आज कल बच्चे बहुत तीव्रे बुध्धि वाले हो गए हैं , जो एक तरह से ठीक है लेकिन दो साल की उम्र में पाठशाला में दाखिल होना चाहे वो प्ले स्भूल ज्यूँ न हो एक तरह से उनका बचपना छीन लेता है और मासूमियत कहीं खो जाती है. जब दोनों माता व् पिता काम कर रहे होते हैं बच्चे की ख़ुशी के लिए उनकी हर ज़रुरत पूरी करते हैं क्यूंकि उनको समय नहीं दे पाते. यह मैं हर दिन सुनती हूँ अपने सह कर्मियों से ! इस वास्ते बच्चे कहीं सेल्फिश होते जाते हैं और ज्यादा पाने की उम्मीद में रहते हैं! लेकिन यही सही है और इसमें कोई बैर नहीं हो सकता.! रही बात हमारी मनुष्यता की वोह धीरे धीरे कम हो रही है. अख़बारों में रोज़ घिनोने सच पढने पड़ते हैं! बेटे पिता माँ बहेन कहीं लड़ते हैं तो कहीं शोषण होता है! आगे भगवान् ही जाने क्या होगा ! ख़ैर, उनकी लीला है और हम सब उनका खेला खेल रहे हैं. इसी बात से संतुष्ट रहना चाहिए!

Subhadra Kaul said...

Hmm..(putting my thinking cap on) if you are to make it more personalised it'd bring in a tinge of nostalgia of the world i've only heard of.
The world has changed, learning how it specifically changed your outlook over the years is going to make an interesting read.

Unknown said...

Subhadra beta you are getting too demanding ....