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| • Social reasons |
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Breaking up of joint families into nuclear families. Most homes do not have a value-giver today. Homes have turned into mere houses where family members come to eat, watch TV and sleep. Akhilesh Kumar Singh Chandela, a security guard, says: "Values are inculcated by the mother, who is usually not available to the child for the major part of the day. When the mother arrives home after the day's work, she is already too tired and has other things to look after. At the most she manages to help them in doing the homework—often not even that. Then, usually the whole family sits before the TV till bedtime. Where are the values going to come from?"
Today, there is a powerful image of people, who seem to be leading happy and respectable lives even without ethics. Respect is proportional to money and external achievements, not to the quality of means employed to get them. Impressionable young minds choose unhealthy role models for themselves early in their lives.
Shyama Chona, principal of Delhi Public School and founder of Tamanna, a school for the disabled, says: "There is concern over the state of urban youth. The educated city youth apes his Western counterpart with pride. He is filled with ideas and attitudes unrelated to our traditions and culture. He must be taught anew to appreciate his Indianness and the glory of our past."
"An unpleasant, combative environment at home and unresponsive, unsympathetic or ignorant teachers who cannot act as role models, are the principal reasons for decline of values," says Luther.
Our school textbooks talk more about wars than about the lives of people with exemplary values. The students look for role models from the contemporary world, as they can relate to them. However, textbooks imply that such people lived only in
Sat Yuga (the spiritually evolved era according to Hinduism) or centuries ago. The media also underplays reports of exemplary people as it assumes that good deeds are uninteresting, hence unsaleable.
Cutthroat competition and the resulting higher stress levels. Stress may affect moral reasoning capacity and the ability to use it in real-life situations. Competitiveness exists because instead of trying to discover who we are, where our roots lie and how we can serve others, we are trying to become what we are not. Instead of trusting that real security comes from within, we are looking for it in money, possessions and power.
There's an ancient story about a frog, which, having been told by his friend about an elephant, went on bloating his tummy to confirm from his friend if the cited creature was that big. Then, he exploded. We must remember that everyone has a place. A frog need not try to become an elephant to gain importance since, in the scheme of this universe, he is already as important as an elephant.
Pythagoras once said : "Humans who kill animals for food tend to lose their sensitivity; they tend to see killing of their fellow humans with the same apathy." Whatever be Pythagoras' reasoning, the fact is that we do exhibit the kind of insensitivity he's talking about. It is paradoxical that as physical distances are shrinking, the psychological ones are widening. Nothing seems to stir us. Is it because we fail to see the same self in others that we so readily see within us? |
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| • Administrative reasons |
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"The decreasing faith in, respect for and fear of law; the increasing delay and cost, making justice inaccessible to large segments of the population; and the near-collapse of the established grievance redressal system are some of the factors," says Karthikeyan. Criminals believe that they can get away provided they have the right connections or money. On the other hand, innocent victims have nowhere to go. Since independence, not a single case comes to mind where a big politician or criminal was punished for misappropriating public money. Luther says: "There should be visible and transparent punishment-and-reward systems in the industry and government, providing exemplary punishment to those guilty of misdemeanor."
When I can get my car license delivered at home without having to clear a driving test, I am tempted. This occurs when normal routes are either arduous or almost closed. Routes are made arduous when there is a demand from the top for money, not performance. This is because we choose insecure people to lead us. This happens because secure people do not feel the need to be chosen, in order to serve society. |
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| • What can be done ? |
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Let the media shift its focus to rebuilding values. The scripts of soap operas should be written responsibly, since they influence millions of people. The scriptwriters probably do not realize the great opportunity (and hence responsibility) that they have. Preference should be given to soap operas that are based on inspiring real-life incidents. Images of rich and happy people who used the right values to get rich, and of those who led miserable lives despite being rich for want of values, can transform the viewers' minds.
Advertisements, too, can play a role. They do not become less effective if they carry powerful messages promoting right values. On the contrary, it builds the image of the company. And people buy the image of the product before the product itself.
LG's New Heroes is one such series aired by Zee News, wherein people of extraordinary achievements, having strong values are introduced. And who does not want to know about successful and inspiring people? Values can be rebuilt in our country if we start giving the same kind of publicity to them that we give to the World Cup Cricket and practice right values would have no place in governance and in all walks of life.
Reduce stress level in people's lives. Educational institutions and offices should not require anybody to commute large distances. If possible, accommodation should be provided on the campus. No office or factory should function for more than five days in a week. Staying beyond office hours should be discouraged. The hours lost can easily be compensated by effective time management.
Let us slow down our pace, try to find our purpose in the scheme of the universe through our liking, talents and aptitudes. An effective and efficient cobbler is better than an incompetent engineer or doctor. It is not a particular profession that guarantees you abundance and happiness, but your competence.
So just forget about competition... there isn't any except in your mind. Just go on moving within yourself, towards yourself and get linked to your roots. Discover your purpose and give your life to it.
View things from your children's perspective and understand them before expecting them to see your point of view. This will develop trust in them. Children adapt to parental values that get internalized if trust exists between parent and child. Children are sensitive and can recognize uncertainty and confusion in their parents' value system, and can become disenchanted with following the rules when they find that their parents' deeds do not match their words. Do not confuse the child by your double standards or by reacting inconsistently to their behavior. Let children see the logical connection between their deeds and the likely consequences.
We feel disillusioned with values because our leaders do not exhibit congruence between words and deeds. "Our rewards, leadership, positions, appreciation and recognition ought to go only to those who live by high values, not to those who merely speak them," says Kiran Bedi. Similarly, we should be vigilant to detect any hypocrisy in our behavior.
I am convinced that people can be transformed, irrespective of their age and conditioning. All that is required is to make them trust the light within and see the need to remove all that keeps our real light from shining forth. Who can doubt that personality traits of people can be transformed, having witnessed the incredible transformation of the prisoners of Tihar jail in Delhi, India.
Javed Raza, an inmate, says: "When I came to Tihar jail in July 1997, I had thought that it was going to be the worst experience of my life. But 22 months since, the experience has turned out to be a lifesaver, one that has changed me for the better, made me happy and hopeful for the future. The first vipassana course taught me to let go of a lot of my anger and anxiety. Instead of feeling angry and disappointed with people and events, I now feel love and compassion. And I understand deep down that if I am feeling angry or distressed, it is not because of the person or the event that appears to be causing it, but because of my own lack of equanimity towards my mental contents and physical sensations."
Countless people are taking quantum leaps in their personal growth with vipassana, reiki, meditation, prayers, self-observation and other transformation tools. We should try to transform ourselves, not for the sake of society, but for ourselves and the world that our children are going to inherit.
Revamp our political system. Frequently, we vote for a party, not the candidate. We are often left with the option of choosing the least undesirable candidate. This is because the right to decide who can contest is in the hands of politicians. People can only vote for candidates who are given tickets by political parties.
Each candidate should be required to fulfill a minimum criterion. In our country, an applicant for a peon's job has to have some qualification, but a political leader needs none. A criminal or illiterate person can be the leader of the largest democracy in the world! When there is three-tier screening for selecting civil servants, why should there not be tougher screening for the politicians who command them?
I propose that institutes be opened for developing politicians, with focus on personality development and value orientation, and after graduating, they are screened by an autonomous board before being allowed to contest. |
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| • Revamp our education system |
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Shyama Chona, emphasizing the need for value-based education, says: "Ultimately it is the morality of man that makes or breaks him. If it is true that 'the destiny of India is being shaped in her classrooms', let us change the educational pattern. Inculcating character-building values is perhaps the most meaningful contribution we can make to the lives of our children."
Rishi Pal Chauhan, with his American friend Steven Rudolf, is doing commendable work in this direction through the Jiva Institute that he heads. The three areas the institute is focusing on are education, health and culture. Chauhan says that education should develop both skills and ethics, as was done in gurukuls. Today, there is almost no correlation between what the student is taught and the life he is leading.
Luther advocates meditation, prayers and yoga in the school curriculum. Karthikeyan, stressing the need for value-based education from the primary level, says: "Skills and knowledge are important, but far more important are attitude and values." Textbooks should include stories of people of exemplary ethics. Parents and teachers should follow values, and convey unequivocal and confident messages on upholding right values.
No one has ever become a saint by inculcating values. One has to discover and believe in one's saintliness within. Values flow from one's self-image, not vice-versa. Once we help a child realize his spirituality and make him perceive himself as a spiritual giant, the task of value education becomes easier. A child who is convinced of his divine heritage behaves like a saint without knowing it.
Revamp our administration and grievance-redressal machinery. Karthikeyan underlines the need for these systems to be made functional, fair, speedy and effective. He feels that society should demonstrate that those who do not believe in
All that it requires is patience, faith and perseverance. Here faith means that we view the happenings in our lives—howsoever unjust or purposeless they may appear—as timely and essential gifts from God in the best interests of our growth and ultimate happiness. So we should not wait for others to change first, because transforming ourselves is not a sacrifice but something that will ensure bliss, harmony and transformation in our external circumstances too. |
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