Delhi Belly

The huge, stinking and filthy underbelly of India has come to the fore with the highly deplorable gang rape in Delhi. Has India become so very insensitive? Is there any culture left in us? Our society, which boasts of a rich cultural heritage that runs millenia behind, has become one of the most crime filled societies of late. Gang rapes, Honour killing, incest, tempermental firing at trivial things, road rage, accidents, murders, kidnapping. Not a single day passes without Indians learning about all of the above incidents.

What has happened to bring about this drastic change in the conduct of our society? We cannot even call ourselves as civilized anymore. Socio-economic drift could be one of the major reasons. Rajnikant says in his movie Sivaji,"Rich get richer and poor get poorer" and it cannot be far from truth. There is indeed

a vast difference in the social status of people. While it has been proven time and again that rich and the connected can get away with any heinous crime, people will invariably get influenced to try and breach the boundary of civilized society.

Lack of determination in implementing any penalty is our bane. It is infact becoming a daily activity to learn about an eve-teasing incident or rape and gang rape. We are slowing losing the grip on our youngsters. When they should be taught about chivilary, moral and ethics, they get to learn about backstabbing, grabbing attention through tittilation, playing politics and indulging in public display of indecent exposure in the name of liberalization. If this is liberalization and freedom of expression, I pity the generation that idolizes this.

A decade ago, when FTV was banned in India, there was a huge furore in the Parliament admonishing the audaciousness of the Government. In retrospect, the scaling down of that stance has definitely influenced more bolder shows, that are in stark contrast to our indian thought process. How else can one describe the onslaught of shows like Roadies, Splitsvilla, BiggBoss etc which openly encourage participants to indulge in mouthing profanities, backstab, play dirty politics and expose as much as they can?

You know what, the inflow of TV shows is also a Foreign Direct Investment. An investment of western thinking in the tender minds of children. If you think harder, this FDI has not even been discussed or noticed by the intellectuals. If the civic society or other flag bearers of social causes have to protest, it is against such uncouth sitcoms that are gradually degrading the morality of our next generation.If a non-linear FDI on media can create such a devastating implact on our society,I shudder to think of what would actually happen if FDI is allowed in India.

As a gentleman rightly said, 300 years ago 1 MNC came to India, the East India Company, which lorded over us and here we are, on the cusp of inviting hundreds of MNCs to bring in their products, along with their work culture.

Lost are those wonderful moments when our parents used to come back home at 6 or 6:30 in the evening, bring along a small parcel of cup cakes or other regional snacks, which were freshly prepared and consumed with a day or two.

Gone are those days when we used to have sufficient time in between Rangoli, Chitrahaar, Ek se badkar ek and Surabhi. There was quality entertainment for the entire family. Sitcoms reflected the society and we had serials like Mahabaratha and Ramayana that hailed our rich cultural heritage. When these epcis were screened, the streets were empty. Invariably, the crime rate at that point in time had also dipped.

Lost are those wonderful times spent with the family, talking about the day's happenings. In short, we have literally lost a wonderful era where there was genuine love and affection among family members and a respect for others.

The Delhi incident has evoked extreme reactions from our elected members. If they are genuine, it has to be appreciated. But if it is only to grab the headlines, this incident is nothing but a piece of news item.Unless there is a radical and immediate change in our approach, anarchy will set in.

Intolerance, insensitivity and insecurity are ruling over our senses.

Teaching has to change. Parental care has to increase. Grandmothers and grandfathers should propogate the goodness and cultural richness of our country and its heritage. Moral values and moral science classes need to be part of our curriculum. Prosperity cannot be gauged by the material richness alone, it is in the action and thought of an individual. A filthy mind can only lead to misery. Unwanted TV shows that do not gel with our culture and heritage must be shown to door. Unless the top people think about it with a long term perspective, we will lose our generation next.

We need to act and act immediately.