Acharya Vijay Ratnasunder Suri
FOR any respected society, its youth population is very important for two main reasons. One, it provides stability to the humane values of the society and secondly, these young people provide mobility to the necessary changes in accordance with the changing surroundings and necessities. Considering the need of the time, some young people direct the society on the right path showing them stability, while some others themselves become symbols of revolution. For example, in the 19th century, torturous British rule had presented in India its claim of being culturally superior and proving that Indian culture is backward. In order to falsify this claim, young Indians like Swami Vivekananda, Dayananda Saraswati, etc. came forward and once again established the power of Indian culture. These young people gave the 19th century society a new era of self-respect and self-confidence and a proud feeling once again. This was the same society which had lost all confidence due to the never ending slavery of British rule. As a result of the hard work by these 19th century social reformers, importance of the humane values of the Indian culture were firmly established and the society moved ahead on the path of progress thereafter.
On the other side, the youth of the early 20th century faced the challenge of freeing their nation from the shackles of slavery by bringing about a drastic social, economical and political change. They accepted this challenge and successfully freed the country from the British rule. People like Gandhiji, Bhagat Singh, etc have played an important role in achieving this freedom. This again proves the fact mentioned earlier about the importance of the young generation in any society.
Both these challenges together in a complicated manner are present before the 21st century youth. On one side the challenge is to protect and stabilise the continuously degrading cultural and humane values and on the other side, a greater challenge is to bring a serious change in the society. This is probably first time in history that a generation of youth has been acquainted with challenges of both stabilisation and change. The most important thing here is to know where to stabilise and where to change.
A basic framing can be presented in this respect. Major aspects of the cultural values which need protection and stabilisation today can be mentioned as the long continued tradition of family, marriage, social unity and brotherhood, purity of thought and action, non-violence, etc. Among those which need to be changed include partiality, socio-economic system based on injustice, corrupt politics and government, commercialised education system, costly and un-time bound judicial system, blind race of development, degradation of nature, etc. This list of change and protection can be really long. But still, both these aspects can be simplified and summarised as follows:
On the basis of the above clarification, a serious vision needs to be adopted. What to protect and what to change should be clearly understood. In this respect the idea should be to protect our cultural and moral values whereas to change the policies and the system used to implement these values should be changed. It is rightly said, “We can change our policies but we cannot change our principles.” This ideology will help us in protecting our moral values along with accepting the modern and technological changes around us.
A building howsoever high still has its foundation on the ground; likewise, we should always have our feet on the ground irrespective of the heights we achieve in life. If we want to keep our progress a constant factor in our life, this needs to be remembered and followed always. I am immensely pleased to see that our youth population although has become ultra modern and technically sound, they are still attached with the culture of our country. I saw an example of this tendency very recently when the government had decided to lower the legally permissible age of indulging in sensual activities from 18 to 16, the entire youth crowd together stood against this decision. Another instance was observed when the government proposed to sideline all regional languages giving English primary importance, again all the young citizens stood up against this. Seeing this, my confidence became concrete that amidst all the progress and development, the country is still connected from its roots just like the branches of a tree.
This is also true that a part of this youth has lost track of the right direction. Still, the youth is ready to face the challenges of the constantly changing scenario. They need to understand that without bringing about change in the socio-economic system, without purifying the political and legal system, wellness, strength and growth is not possible for any one.
Looking at the rapid development of technology all around, it has become very necessary to establish equilibrium with this change. It is necessary to understand where this technology is proving beneficial and where is it proving harmful. Need of the day is that we are able to adapt ourselves with this changing technology and cope up with the same. Enhancements like social networking websites, mobile phones rather smart phones, ever improving automotive sector, etc are the trending developments today that are influencing the youth population. At the same time, they have done a lot of damage as well. For example, hit and run cases are on a peak, facebook is being highly misused and has created problems in social security of women and children, etc. In order to cope up with these changes, it is necessary that we know our limits while adapting to these changes.
Like in the game of cricket, a player within the limit of the crease cannot lose his wicket; similarly, the youth should realise where they should stop in accepting the changes. Only boundaries will help us equalise with the technological advances and use them to our maximum benefit. For this to happen it is also necessary that the state fulfils its responsibilities without fail. Today’s situation can be compared to a cricket match with no umpire and where all players are playing according to their own will. The country is facing the same problem. Today, it is very crucial that the state fulfils its duty as an umpire with utmost dedication. And only the youth can make the state understand its responsibilities and also pressurise the state to function accordingly.
Another important area, which needs a revolution is that the youth should concentrate on the development of their morals and capabilities. Today’s youth is ready to adopt any path to win the competition. There are many who choose any available short cuts without understanding their ethical and honest values. They need to understand that most of the times success obtained from shortcuts is very short lived and finally they lose everything. If they learn to have patience and develop their real talents, the youth will obtain a permanent success.
We have to understand the value of patience. Today everyone wants to pace up faster than the internet in their individual progress. We need to be cautious that we don’t pick up such a speed that it leads to our destruction ultimately. Everyone knows that any creative idea is an output of a great deal of thinking and not a simple shortcut. People like Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Sunita Williams, Saina Nehwal, etc are glowing examples of youth success in our country. The point to be noted is have any of these reached their zenith by a shortcut? Definitely not! These people have obtained all this by dedicated hard work and a penance of efforts. The youth should be very clear that hard work is the only key to success and stop running blindly behind shortcuts. My young friends should know that today we have opportunities to reach international stages in fields of sports, science, courage, etc. We should be able to utilise these opportunities to the most. If we are able to change ourselves, we will automatically be able to change the world. The most important challenge before us is to change ourselves.
All the points mentioned above with respect to the changing global scenario, the youth is definitely working in that direction from a few years. For example, the protest for Lokpal, protest against the gang rape in Delhi, etc. but no concrete result has come forward as a result of the protests. The reason for this is probably we are trying to change others but not ourselves. This should always be remembered that people like Swami Vivekananda and Gandhiji were able to bring out results because they were able to change themselves before. Therefore, the entire youth generation should understand this fact and begin to mould themselves accordingly. This will mark the beginning of social-economic-political revolution. We can only hope and believe that today’s youth will stand up and accept the change. (The writer is leading Jain saint)
Points to be stabilised and protected
1.Traditional system of social unity which is based on traditions of family and marriage
2.Purity of thoughts and actions
3.Traditions based on religion
4. Values of truth, non violence and justice
5. Ideology of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
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Points that require change
1. Partiality, socio-economic system based on injustice and sufferings
2. Corrupt politics and government
3. Commercialised education system
4. Costly and un-time bound judicial system
5. Blind race of development and degradation of nature.
1.Traditional system of social unity which is based on traditions of family and marriage
2.Purity of thoughts and actions
3.Traditions based on religion
4. Values of truth, non violence and justice
5. Ideology of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
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