We pride ourselves, and rightly so, for being a very knowledgeable
and well aware generation to which no new avenue or vista are unexplored. We have
woken up to almost every loss that will prove dire for ourselves. Be it the
loss of forest cover, non-renewable energy resources, flora and fauna- in
essence all the factors necessary to keep the balance clock ticking on the
planet we call our home. Industries developing today are self-reliant in energy
production, have reduced harmful emissions and are more stringently monitored. Agriculture
is becoming more organic by the day. Alternate career opportunities opening up
are tackling unemployment and the “Homo
sapiens” have given due consideration to the other species. All seems set
for the beginning of another glorious year in this century of development.
However, among a plethora of signs signalling this advent,
and a better age of existence, we have forgotten a very important loss- a loss
that has left deep, anguishing scars on the face of the human society. It is
the loss of humanity.
The society at large has failed to achieve a mindset which
is free from any negative virtues or thoughts. Well, in our defense society
hasn’t been that kind or accommodating enough to achieve a utopian version of
itself. With development comes competition. Following next, is striving to make
our presence felt in an ever-increasing crowd. If a person feels that they are
not getting the attention or respect they deserve, frustration builds up and
rears its ugly head around us in the form of crimes or anti-social events of
varying magnitude.
We do not need flicks like “The Terminator or Matrix Series” or “i-Robot”
to predict when the machine age will finally dawn upon us. Look around people! It
is here and it is now. And please do not be mistaken, no one is referring to
humanoids or cyborgs but it is we, humans who have become the mechanical forms
of ourselves. Never before than now, have we displayed such inanimate responses
towards the unacceptable events unfolding around us. We have become so
accustomed to reading about crimes against humanity alongside everyday news,
that the humane feelings of anger, sadness and the drive to do something
ourselves have long since been subdued. If any outfit asks girls to refrain from
western clothing and threatens acid attacks, warns N.E. immigrants to migrate
back, ban the celebration of Valentine’s Day or issues any such arbitrary
censorship, mostly everybody fits perfectly in this new system and very few
dare to question it. We have perfected the formula for not allowing rage to
engulf us and do anything rash thereafter. We are too afraid to disrupt the
part we play in our lives that now itself resembles a smooth-running machine.
The world started celebrating “Malala Day” just because it
was decreed by the UN, never trying to feel the brunt of the Taliban; this
brave heart had to face herself. Frequent shoot-outs on innocent people, brutal
violence against natives or people of other races with the guilty feeling no
remorse about it, show how effectively one is capable of strangulating their
conscience and let forth the monster within. We may have clamped down child
labour but sadly not child abuse. The unfortunate incident in Delhi was
incorrectly termed an eye-opener. On the contrary it portrayed how effectively
we have shut our eyes and ears to the agony and indignation, half the
population of the world had to bear, for so long. Moreover, the taboo in our society
which should be directed towards the propagators of such evils is erroneously streamlined
towards the victims. Thereby their rehabilitation is difficult and their lives
become a living hell.
Leaving aside the societal level and upon introspection of
our everyday lives, we find that – decency, respect towards each other, a happy
and united family life; have all gone out of fashion, now that there is a
growing demand for “personal space” in today’s mundane, hectic world. Man is no
longer social and once you take the “social” out of the “social animal”, you
are left with the term with that makes the state of our lives toady resemble
that of our wild counterparts!
As i post this, the end of the year beckons and its
culmination saw various events which shamed humanity in not only our nation but
around the world also. So there’s nothing better than to resolve to infuse the
sense of being alive once again into our existence. For every inhuman incident,
the no. of protesters must outnumber the “robots”. The light of the flame of
humanity should burn through the cold and gray stagnant mist which has engulfed
us now. We must shake out of our deep slumber on the path leading to the
development of the human inside us. Progress should not be limited to the
scientific, technical and economic fields only but moral, social and ethical
progress should go on at an equal pace too. We make up the society and
should be the harbingers of its transformation also. And this my friends will be
a resolution which should not go unfulfilled.
.jpg)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
© [Anupama Sharan] and [something...yet everything], [2012-2020]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Anupama Sharan] and [something...yet everything] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
