Originally written by vpsingh
Quite recently, the humble and feeble modernity has been under scathing attack facing so many ruthless onslaughts from the custodians of our community, genuine as well as self-styled, accusing that modernity is the real culprit of violating the well-established societal norms like not marrying in the same-clan and within village etc. In my assessment modernity has nothing to do with intimate relations and the human sexual behaviour. The ‘Homosapiens’ considered to be our forefathers were more indulged in free sex without having regard to their caste, creed, religion, region or even their clan as these nuances evolved much later. I find the modern youth much more rational, well behaved and controlled in his/her sexual behaviour, observance of social norms and sophistry – thanks to the enhanced sources of scientific knowledge and education. Some of us seem to be satirical about those living in metropolitan cities for adopting modern style of living. It is a very wrong perception that those living in metropolitan cities like, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, New York or even Timbuktu are indulging in all sorts of immoral acts. The scenario is not much better in the comparatively smaller towns/villages considered to be the bastion of culture and customs, as far as behavioural changes are concerned. There are people everywhere who indulge in all sorts of immoral acts irrespective of the size of a city or village. It has become more a fashion and a routine rhetoric to criticize modernity, rather than going deep into introspection and retrospection to analyze the facts and changing trends of behaviour.
Paradoxically enough, many of us spare no opportunity to criticize modernity in pursuit of being called as saviours of ‘traditions’, but, at the same time seem to be vying with each other to have everything that symbolizes modernity viz. sending our kids to English medium schools, wearing trendy clothes, having latest gizmos and luxury cars. How many of us are still wearing the handloom clothes made by the village weavers. Why don’t we wear turban and ‘dhoti-Kurta’ if we are so much concerned about our traditional identity? Why do we insist upon our wives to wear the modern lingerie and siphon. We should insist that they should remain clad in 52 yard “Ghaghra” and ‘bandhej ki odhni’ while keeping their faces covered all the time. The same logic also demands that we should prevent our daughters attending the modern day co-educational school, colleges and universities which offer them ample opportunities for close interaction with their opposite sex. We should rather be insisting on their sending to ‘Gurukuls ‘ only – traditional institutes. We will have to radically revive many of our traditions, if we are not prepared to adapt ourselves to the changed environment.
