Values And Their Devaluation

“Did you happen to watch the tiger killing the man video? So disturbing and cool it was!” This was something I heard from a guy the other day. Countless people chided the 20-year-old man who died a traumatic death by passing absurd comments- “Paagal tha jo tiger ke samne kood gaya; Arey usko samajh nahi thi ki sher ke samne nahi koodna” and so on. No matter if the hapless young man’s ‘un’blurred video spread like a forest fire but the nonsensical comments passed by sundry posthumously have brought the ethics of people in question. The complete rupture of human values is crystal- clear from this very incident.

Rama and Krishna were born on these lands who are epitomes of moral values. Vedas were written here. Buddha got divine knowledge here. But today, have we kept those ideals, values, and principles close to our hearts, which were so dear to our ancestors?

Take an example of the concept of joint families. Today, no young couples prefer joint families. In Indian society, respect for elders is taking a backseat in the name of modernization. Our cultural values have taught us to respect our parents. The growth of nuclear families has led to complete ignorance of parents and elders. What an irony of fate! The parents are forced to seek shelter in old age homes.

Indian culture, one of the oldest and richest cultures, is under a great threat as westernization and modernization are deepening their long roots in our country. We are forgetting our own ‘sankaras’ and pretend to be western. It is also one of the factors causing generation gap.

The next prominent degradation in our moral values reflects itself in the form of corruption. We came across a series of corruption scandals during Kejriwal heyday. The newspapers used to remain flushed with corruption related news. The latest example is that of the southern minister, Jay Lalitha, who is now behind the bars. More examples could be cited – Hawala scam, Fodder Scam, Urea Scam etc.

Another steep decline in moral values manifests itself in the form of criminalization of politics. People with criminal records dabble in the politics. In fact, during elections, many a times it happens that to muster votes, candidates make use of money and muscle power. For instance, during 1990s, Phoolan Devi became the politician, though she was a bandit. Not only this, there are politicians who have connections with terrorists. The politician-criminal-bureaucrat nexus has consolidated itself in the last three decades.

We never approve of such an amorphous value system in our nation that was known for its warmth, empathy and rich cultural heritage for over hundred centuries. The decomposition of moral values in our social milieu has also manifested itself in the increasing graph of crimes, violence and riots. The social media i.e. the cable TV boom, cinema and pornography have affected the mindsets of sundry. The crime series like CID, Savdhan India, Gumrah etc too are altering the young minds. The pornographic movies, magazines etc as well are adding fuel to fire. The newspapers remain brimmed with molestation and rape cases.

As far as the violence and the riots on the religious grounds are concerned, Muzaffar Nagar riot s the latest example which shows the pathetic decay in the social and cultural values. The terrorists’ attacks too speak loudly about the height of degradation of moral values in the society.

Quite recently, in the field of science and technology, there has been an issue raised on moral values in the society with the birth of Dolly, the cloned sheep. It would be morally incorrect to extend the use of cloning to human beings as this would cause a lot of chaos and unrest in our present society. For example, if totally identical people exist, it would be a hard goose chase for the police to nab the real criminal as police rely on fingerprints.

The solutions of this dangerous moral downfall do exist. The concept of joint families must be promoted among the young couples and this would ensure better future of their posterity. Corrupt politicians should be dealt with iron hands. The politicians with criminal records must not be allowed to participate in any political activity. We must break the politician-bureaucrat-criminal nexus. In our schools, the traditional values must be taught from the grass-root level as schools can change the face of our society.

Most importantly, the basic social, cultural and moral values have to be reinforced for building a morally sound nation.