International Womens Day: A new challenge - Cultivating Young Mind March 8, 2014 at 1:56pm On this International Womens Day I remember one thing - Women Liberation, favorite topic during late 80s & early 90s in urban India. Thinking of that liberty…few questions are hovering on my mind since last few days…. In the name of liberty (real or deceived one) are we missing out something? Does that liberty also involve the sense of responsibility? Are there any consequences on family/Society?? If yes, what and how? Well, too many questions, very few answers…. Actually these issues are NOT surfaced immediately as the impact is so slow that sometime it take decades before we even realize it and, therefore, it neither understood nor valued by most. The ‘we two, our two’ family culture & economic independence achieved by women have further added to that strong individual sense to the modern society, especially in urban scenario. Thus, making modern women (applicable to men as well) feel oppressed by sharing home with their parents or in-law or other elders of the family; thus, resulting into dramatic shift into nuclear family system. Actually, these days, a joint family may just include parents of either spouse or both. (BTW, with one child policy, it is not surprising to find parents of both spouses sharing a home together in China.) With lack of presence of elders at home is leading to depletion of age-old knowledge and wisdom among youngsters that is usually passed on from generation to generation for centuries. We rarely realize that kids miss out on value-based upbringing, which is so true irrespective of women is having career or not. In fact, this chain was actually a backbone of Indian family system that facilitated keeping the culture alive for centuries. Interesting fact is Hindu civilization which has survived over the pastcenturies compared to other civilizations in the world. There were about 46 civilization which were identified by the United Nations out of which 45 havedisappeared and Hindu civlisation is the only one that has survived. The traditional family system has helped Hindus to retain the culture and traditiondespite 800 years of Islamic rule which included Mughals and 200 years of Christian rule udner the Birtish East India Company. Some of you may argue about availability of plenty of knowledge around in different mode; but I feel that valuable time could be lost to judge that information. The impact is felt NOT only in India, but most part of the globe. Even ‘Time’ magazine published a cover story recently - I, Me & Myself generation and it’s an interesting read. These young minds are actually getting carried away by media that essentially promoting I, me & myself culture, and that is neither good for them, nor for the family nor for the society; of course the same isnt good for nation too…and leading to increased sense of greed and lack of sympathy, selfless thoughts,coordination/cooperation/collaboration, which is leading towards highly materialistic life ie un satisfied life and possible negative impact it may produce on both personal and professional lives. Just think, if there is a real need for us to revisit traditional values system that includes joint family system, even, it may include just parents will make huge overall impact on youngsters. If such arrangement isn’t feasible, we can make up the lost ground by celebrating festivals together or spending/taking vacations together. By letting go that deceived freedom, let us think of our children and their future so that they learn the basic value of life ethics, love, sacrifice, success...ultimately, learning to lead better life i.e. prosperous and peaceful... Initially, it may sound bit primitive, but that’s ok…. wisdom in these form is always believed to be centuries old …just give a thought! - by Sandhya Jane
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 01:38:34 +0000
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