MODERNITY, AN ILLUSION

The world sets the pace to run for survival; the pace gets increased by every second. Do we have time to sit and relax amidst the rush? What if we happened to find the time, can we make it worthwhile by giving food for our thoughts? Spare time to think about how far we have moved away from our culture and values. There has always been a rift between the generations. We opt for remoteness and seclusion. Why are we likely to imprison us within the four wall confinement?  What made us negligent to the people around us? Do you remember when is the last time we have celebrated the festivities jointly with family and relatives? We are not what we used to be. A pall of indifference has descended upon us, in recent years. Years passed, so does the people and the behaviour. Look at the family set up that we have today; nuclear families. It is a fashion to have a nuclear family nowadays. What happened to the joint-family systems that we cherished then? Who changed the framework from joint-family to nuclear family? Questions are never-ending, but what is the answer.

Tradition is not as we always misconceive as a set of blind rituals but the beliefs and values that are passed down to generations. It is the link that connects us with our lineage. The idea of tradition originated since humans evolved in the earth. Maybe, because of this reason that it is age-old, we modern folks do not have taste for it. We willfully forget that ‘old is gold’ and old is wise. We tend to be oblivious to the wise sayings. We are drifted far away that we have grown nonchalant neither enjoying the glee nor mourning the grief.

As above mentioned, we are inclined towards the nuclear family set up; two or three in a house. So, if this is the case, then why is the race for winning money? Why do we need to be in a mad rush all the time? Is it to build a three storey building for three, so that each can take one floor for their own? Is it what we call as a ‘Family’? We have lost something precious what we had years ago. We have lost not only the people around us but also the tradition. Tradition never taught us to go behind wealth for happiness. It is modernity, perhaps the scientific and technological improvement made us the wealth accumulating machines. Of course, science and technology have become an integral part of our lives that we cannot disown it by any means. If this is a fact, then accept another fact that without tradition and values we cannot survive for long.

The hold of modernity is very strong that it took the throne of tradition. We are made to believe that money is wealth. Money is a fantasy and modernity is an illusion; the true bank is the tradition. The fantasies and the illusions that are embedded in human consciousness have to be removed. To err is human but if he doesn’t correct his mistakes he is sure to be doomed. We should start to embrace the tradition once again. Tradition revives and rejuvenates the lives of people. Let us join hands to knock down the wall that forbid us from reaching the tradition. Let us get rid of the shackles of modernity. We are at the crossroads, which path are we going to choose? The answer is the path that takes us BACK TO THE TRADITION.