We, the off springs of modern life
With a majority of us adapting the “it’s my life” culture, and getting drawn towards enjoying life our wished way, the all-entrancing contemporary culture is redefining the meaning of life in Indian cities.
Though there is no ideal definition of living a life, still every region on earth adapts to a certain way of life. Gradually, certain prevalent practices take shape of rituals and after a few decades there are recognized as the traditions of that particular place.
In India, the fast developing cities observed on the basis of luxuries, facilities and per capita income of families are consistently creating a new lifestyle. Though the upper middle class usually copy it through films, serials, the middle classes spend most of their energy in making attempts to look as advanced the individuals of upper middle class turn.
It’s a maddening competition. Most of the families, especially the youngsters, are lost in this race to look like somebody popular or noticed in films or serials the previous night.
There is, however, a small section of people in this rapidly growing number of people who despite working day-night to realize its ambitions still remains deeply close or associated to family values. Basically, they know how to differentiate between a professional and personal life. Even if they learn the rules of the game but they know how to behave as a family person once they return home.
It disturbs to observe in the cosmopolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore or Chennai, we, the Internet savvy or a bit over-informed individuals, are actually learning how to live the ‘isolated way’ and thus killing the family feeling from our personal lives..
Gone are the days when even a small joy was shared and participated by one and all. Be it a new bike or car, a new dress or any expensive or important item would spread a wave of greetings among the loved ones. Today, even someone’s demise doesn’t evoke much concern. People think twice before visiting the cremation ground. Perhaps, nobody has time or perhaps nobody wants to take out time.
The fast life of cities has no scope for taking out time for one’s own loved ones because of whom one gains success. The grandparents, parents, siblings or even old friends they are the first most of us being ignored by us, no matter how big role they played in our lives.
Visiting parties where barely anyone except the host recognizes us and skipping our family celebrations where everyone loves us, is one of the ills of this modern lifestyle. We have time for those to whom we don’t matter. But we are always short of time or too busy to be those who have been waiting for us with love every time. Isn’t it?
Perhaps, the new religion of our modern world forgot to accommodate the need, the moral responsibility and the courtesy of being with people we grew up calling as “our own”.
Be it rooms, television sets, computers, ipods or cellular phones, the modern technology has been successful in keeping us away from an affectionate world. The gazettes or facilities that were meant to facilitate one’s life to survive in a competitive world, have taken away the actual charm that even the people in Europe or the U.S crave for in their social life.
The joy people used to cherish just two decades ago in the cities is now limited to rural parts of India but not in city life. The villagers in India, many of whom even having cars, cellphones and lands worth millions of rupees, have very smartly shielded their traditional lifestyle from ‘city culture’. They value one’s family by its social standing which is built by socialization and good conduct with each other, the money is not the biggest characteristic to derive respect in villages. One’s dignity is hard-earned and easily lost depending upon the family’s conduct with others.
The city dwellers have finished it off almost altogether to look ‘modern’, to achieve ‘maximum’, or to look ‘advance’.
In Delhi, the national capital of India, some of the major issues perturbing the local people are parking-space, encroachment, wayward and rude children, delayed marriages and high separation or divorce cases.
Nobody, in general, wants to attend to the root cause; the arrival of modern culture which is derived not from the original western life where people work day-night to earn and for a better family care, but from Hollywood films which usually show all live for themselves and not for one’s own people.
The over-exaggerated version of Indian family life and individuals’ psychology as depicted in serials or the new charm to look one of MTV products as shown in Reality Shows now a days, are some of the major influences in today’s youngsters or family life.
There was a time when any festival or occasion like birthday or anniversary would be celebrated in a gala way with parents, siblings and neighbourhood friends at one’s own home. Close relatives or friends would travel long distances to greet and meet to show how much they actually care. But not anymore.
Today, every one of us pretends as if such things always existed in cinema or TV serials. Most of us describe that way of life as ridiculous but actually the need of the hour is to unite and promote family feeling among us. It is needed only if we want to save our family life and not live in our homes as paying guests or a group of visitors sharing a roof for some time.
We spend that ‘busy time’ getting romantic over mobile phones or chatting with strangers in the chat rooms or drinking outside. But not many of us think to take out even a little time asking our aged father or mother, if he/she expected us to talk to them that night.
Who can save us when the “I don’t care” is the way of life we, the so called educated minds, have opted to embrace.
Doest it really matter if our grandpa and grandma has awaited for our only holiday to share their interesting tales of a beautiful life? Or, the cute child or a loving wife wanted to share any “good” news. Who cares if the pet we joyfully brought years ago to our homes is now on the verge of dying?
Perhaps, it’s time to wake up and first revisit that philosophy of modernism that prevents us from protecting our rapidly segregating family life.
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