Prof Javed Mughal
“Note down this number to inform the police if you are punished by your parents at home” is a teacher’s first piece of advice to his students in the class at the very outset of academic session in the USA and Canada. There is a specific culture among budding generation of the West called ‘Thums-up-culture’ because a particular sign of ‘Thums-up’ is normally shown by the children to their parents when the later reprimand them for their blunders with the intention to rail up their sons and daughters. A child from the beginning is given the impression that he or she is free to go where he/she wants to go; to do what he/ she wishes to do and above all live his/ her life as per their choice. The result is that a child transcends all possible limits and run out of control with the result that they cease to be the main-stay of their parents. They ultimately become like ships without rudder. The life of majority in the west has culminated into the emergence of ‘a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing.’ A small child of 10 can very easily be seen with a gun pointed towards his counterpart instead of a pen to do class exercise. We estimate the standard of western life with the yardstick of their ostensible development in the field of technology which is an eye-wash. If a microscopic observation is made of the intrinsic life of common masses in the west, one comes across an extremely gloomy picture. But the sorry part of the total fact is that this derailing-culture has also sneaked into our soil of mutual love and affection, fraternity and communal harmony and is badly affecting the moral, civic and ethical aspects of our life. Our children happen to be easily vulnerable by this pestilence of the west. It is well perceptible today in our own country that the sense of filial obedience is missing from the children for their parents and the tinge of parental affection has put on the garb of practical and utilitarian semblance. This is major threat to our culture which consists in respect for the elders, love for the Youngers and amicable gestures for the equals. We send our children to school for their better future but we see that the output remains not much satisfactory. Our system is least bothered about the life-oriented education of the students in Govt. schools and the private educational business centers have removed all necessary restrictions from the children just to keep them in good humour so that they can earn much. No one is genuinely concerned about the well being of this little generation wherein the ultimate future of this nation lies. It has been observed that the parents’ role is getting insignificant like that of the west as a result of which our posterity, now, can be visualized to have digressed from the right track. Children today seem to have too much freedom. They are mostly given what they want, go where they want, and spend time exactly how they want. Gone are the days when you actually seek permission from parents to go out and play or visit a friend. At one time I used to get irritated to listen to my parents and elders using the phrase ‘during our times’ to make their point about something they felt strongly about. But now, it is beginning to make so much more sense. The situation today is perhaps the price we are dearly paying for the so-called development. We have too many things that occupy us. We have parents who are both working and have so little time for their children. We live in an age where even members of the same family do not quite know what the other is up to. We are all too busy in our own worlds. Technology has also spoilt us rotten. We are all too busy with our gadgets, with our mobile phones and the like, that we hardly have time for each other. To borrow our parents’ phrase, ‘during our time’ we only had landline telephones, which were, as a matter of fact strictly monitored by parents and elders, and more so, since it was commonly used by everyone at home and I think we were sensitive enough not to overuse it. Today, just because other children own mobile phones, the love of parents is such that their children should also own one. It amazes me to think that our fore-fathers really survived extremely well without any form of electronic communication. And here we are, with everything made easy with just a click, or press of a button, but we still seem to make a mess out of it. In the sense that we also only got busier, have lesser time for families, for our children, for anything that is personally nice and even necessary. It is true that because many parents lead busy lives, they also compromise materially with their children. If we can afford it, there is really no reason why we should hold something back for our children. The core reason being, we love them. But we love them too much to the extent of spoiling their future. Yes, I see rebellious children who have got all they want and still demand the life out of their parents. Perhaps, our leniency is too much. Ironically, we also live in a time where we glorify law and justice but never quite realising how much of that “right” tend to land us in some kind of trouble. Recently I heard of a teenager student, who packed his bags and left home just because his parents scolded him for his habit of wasting time. Let me tell the readers another incident where a student of 11th class abducted his Class Madam and was recovered after 21 days. Incidents like this make you wonder if it is the heavy influence of the western culture that has led us to where we are. I feel sad when I come across young, so called educated people who talk to their parents like they know a lot more than them or are a whole lot wiser than them (now that they have earned a bachelor’s degree or something). I think it is really important to realize that no matter how many degrees we earn or no matter what we become in life, we don’t become better or any wiser than our parents, because it is them who give us our wings and make us fly. And yes, just because our parents love us so much to the extent that they would sacrifice their own pleasure and luxury for our sake, either to buy us something or let us take/make our decisions, does not mean that we should take advantage of that liberty. Even freedom comes with a price and it means a bigger responsibility.
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