Civilizations rise and fall in constant succession. Studies
show that when people enjoy affluence and become addicted to luxury, decay
begins in the life of the nation. The Roman Empire provides an example of how a
well-established regime can collapse from the mental weaknesses induced by too
much self indulgence. The same thing was witnessed in India when British – who then
were just traders, in the name of East India Company tried to penetrate this
holy land with an eye of hegemony. The Nawabs and other potential rulers fell,
prey for self indulgence of royal treatment of someone who didn’t even belong
to this land-The British!
We all are leading a superficial life, both as an individual
and as a nation. The real life is eluding us. We set much store by
materialistic values of life, pleasure seeking and hypocrisy. The genuine real
life is missing. In this hyper self indulgence we are growing only outward, the
inward growth is not progressive. We just think of present pleasures and
enjoyments which are unrealistic after some time. We are just leaving a void
behind. The RIGHT and the WRONG do not matter anymore. The only thing that
matters is the fleeting satisfaction of desire. Needless to add, the decay, especially
in the field of culture and ethics, has already set in. Crimes have become more
common feature everywhere.
We are fast turning into mental slaves. A reputed author has
called Indians, who have a band of slavery round their necks, yet call
themselves free, hypocrats. A time may come in near future, not so far, when consciousness
of freedom may also vanish and we may not be able to express our Identity.
It’s true that our contemporary world promotes
self-indulgence and lust for pleasure and the merits of superficial knowledge.
Let us, therefore , look within us and see if we are acting like human beings
and proving worth our salt. On introspection, many of us may find we are not
what we profess to be. That is why thing do not happen as we want them to
happen. Those of you who want to do humanitarian work, must look within, do heart
searching, cleanse the poison lying hidden within for a better outer world.
