(i) Are we Happier than our Forefathers?
There was a time centuries ago, in the stone age when man wandered about from place to place in groups. Slowly life became stable, when man decided to settle down. He learnt farming and domestication of animals like cow, sheep, goat and buffalo. These animals gave him milk and helped him to plough the field as well as carry loads. This change in man was a definite change for the better.
Of course, today the world has progressed by leaps and bounds. Quick means of communication, advancement in technology, the boon of the atomic age has made distances so small. The world today has become a smaller place, thanks to progress.
Medicines and drugs have lengthened life and given us cures for dreaded disease. Today man can do so many things that our forefathers could not even dream of achieving. Excessive use of fuels such as diesel, Medicines and drugs have lengthened life and given us cures for dreaded disease. Today man can do so many things that our forefathers could not even dream of achieving. Excessive use of fuels such as diesel, kerosene, petrol and other harmful chemicals have ruined the planet earth. Our atmosphere is so steeped in poisonous gases that we have no fresh air to breathe. This has resulted in the depletion of the ozone layer. Atomic weapons and bombs are a constant threat to our very existence.
Do we honestly say we are happier than our forefathers? At what cost? Yes, we are more comfortable, we have progressed, but at what cost? At the cost of our lives and happiness. Let us not forget that happiness does not depend on material comforts. It depends on the state of our mind. I can safely say that we have forfeited our mental happiness for worldly comforts.
(ii) If Trees Could Talk
Tree can speak to you and I may not understand what they are trying to tell us. It was proved by the famous scientist, Jagdish Chandra Bose, that plants can feel pain and can even reveal how they are feeling. Unfortunately, these sounds cannot be understood by man and can only be recorded on a graph. Vegetation is not deaf and dumb, though we may think so.
If trees could speak, they would have told us several things both good and bad. I am sure the bad things would be much more than about the good habits of man. I am sure the tree would grumble and cry. out in pain at man’s indecent, vulgar and rude behaviour.
All trees would complain about the brutal and barbarious behaviour of man. A tree would explain to us that it gave us shade from the hot blistering sun, plenty of wood, choicest fruit, medicinal herbs, ayurvedic pesticides and insecticides like the neem, yet man is so ungrateful and despicable, he takes the tree for granted and does not care if he chops it and hacks it painfully.
Man goes about cutting down forests and building high rise structures or big factories that give out poisonous gases. Trees, if we could only understand what they were trying to tell us, would inform us that we were murderers and butchers who took pleasure in destroying nature that God has created for man. They would have wept with grief and pain as they related the insanity and callousness of man.
(iii) Leisure – It’s Uses and Abuses
I remember W. H. Davis saying in one of his poems ‘What is this life, if full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?!
These lines tell us that in the middle of rushing here and doing this and that and attacking this job and completing that duty, we must ,find time to relax and cool down. Those of us living in cities spend all our free time, glued to the TV – The idiot box as our elders call it. The rich spend their time in restaurants and nightclubs. No one today spends time with Nature – especially those living in towns and cities.
The best way to spend one’s leisure moments is to come in contact with nature in a park, a zoo, a garden or an aviary. Some of us have a tendency of misusing our leisure time. Some youngsters spend their time gambling, drinking, teasing girls, stealing, getting into trouble by making fun of passers-by and by gossiping. All these activities cause terrible harm to themselves as well as to others. Those belonging to rich families have stag parties or kitty parties and drink alcohol, gamble and go about spoiling the names of their acquaintances and friends.
The best way to spend one’s leisure moments is to come in contact with nature in a park, a zoo, a garden or an aviary. Some of us have a tendency of misusing our leisure time. Some youngsters spend their time gambling, drinking, teasing girls, stealing, getting into trouble by making fun of passers-by and by gossiping. All these activities cause terrible harm to themselves as well as to others. Those belonging to rich families have stag parties or kitty parties and drink alcohol, gamble and go about spoiling the names of their acquaintances and friends.
We can use our leisure time developing our hobbies such as photography, reading, writing, gardening, doing embroidery, painting, learning dancing, playing musical instruments and other things for which we have talents. It is better to develop our talents, for who knows when these will help us in our life. Relaxation is important, but just lying idle will cause trouble to our minds as well as to our body, hence we must do something constructive and useful in our leisure hours.
(iv) Democracy – The Best form of Government
Abraham Lincoln described democracy as the Government of the people, for the people and by the people. This system of government is the most acceptable because every single individual in the country is a part of the governing process. The legislature is elected by the people themselves, while the Executive is selected from the Legislature. A corrupt government will surely not be elected again.
Other forms of government are monarchy and dictatorship. In both monarchy and dictatorship, the ruler is the Supreme ultimate power over the people. The people themselves have absolutely no say in the matter. They have no remedy against misuse of power or against in justice. There is no individual freedom, no freedom of speech or expression. The individual is a captive in his own nation. How ironical this may seem, but it is very true.
I am not saying that democracy is the most ideal form of Government. It does not guarantee social justice and is quite often corrupt. It is slow in functioning and not very capable in emergencies, but yet we feel it is the most effective form of Government.
How can there be an effective function of governments like monarchy, dictatorship and autocracy when the individual is left out completely? Such governments profess ‘might’ is right theory and are more often than not, corrupt and evil one man shows.
The most important attribute of democracy is the fact that all are treated equally before the law, irrespective of caste, creed and sex. The dignity of man is recognised and respected. The individual takes active part in the governing of his country. He is responsible if things go wrong. We therefore feel that democracy is more advantageous than other forms of governments.
(v) Unity in Diversity
India is a land where we can clearly see Unity in Diversity. This means that there is a strand of oneness running through all of us that makes us one in mind and spirit and thought.
India is diverse in topography. We have in one country snow capped mountains as well as deserts, plains as well as plateaus, rivers as well as lakes, areas of heavy rainfall as well as very scanty rainfall. Yet India is one country to all of us. India is a land of diverse people. There are people living in different states who have different language, different mode of dressing different food habits and different traditions. Yet they are all Indians.
We have people of different religions living together as brothers. These external difference of physical features of dress, of language, of food and of festivals are superficial differences to the true Indian. What really matters in the feeling of being an Indian. The strand of Indianness, is what really matters. It is this strand that brings in all Indians the feeling of belonging, the feeling being at home with your near and dear ones.
Today sadly, there is an atmosphere of intolerance, narrow – mindedness, groupism and party spirit, but yet we can proudly say that we have not lost our basic values. The sense of national unity is a priority with most Indians. We must however strive for this unity to be strengthened. We must instill in our youth the feeling of pride for our culture and tradition and we must remember to retain our identity as Indians.
(vi) Students and Discipline
Discipline is of utmost importance in society and it is the student who needs it most if he is going to become an exemplary citizen. Today physical fitness is not all. The student must be taught values and the meaning of discipline in order to make him whole in body and mind. If he is not disciplined from the very beginning he will turn out dissatisfied with life, a failure, and a candidate for violence.
Let us not forget, that teaching discipline to the student is not solely the job of the school. Parents have to be very much involved in this. It is they who have to maintain discipline at home and in the neigh bourhood.
We notice that the problem of indiscipline becomes worse as the student grows older and goes to college. This must be because he is now getting more and more exposed to media. TV soaps and other serials and the cinema are always portraying students as in disciplined. They are shown as not having any regard for their elders and betters. Our children love to ape hence they copy all the bad habits and examples of indiscipline.
Students are becoming more and more violent today. We do not say that they have no reasons to have grievances. Of course, they are not satisfied with the syllabus. They are unhappy with the way teaching is done. They are worried about stiff competition. They are bothered about the free pattern and the partiality of the teachers. These are serious grievances, but this does not mean that students should retaliate by being in disciplined. The education system needs to be changed and our young students must be taught how to choose between right and wrong. A well-disciplined person will become a success in life.
