Change your Outlook

The following is a guest post by Sinchula Banerjee, and it has been accepted as it meets the guidelines. Certain parts of the original has been edited to bring out a more clear picture. 

India- standing on her sixty-seventh year of independence- has undergone drastic changes in society, education, ways of living, financial position and a host of other things. It is not practically feasible to enlist all the changes that man has evolved through, and thus I will make a humble attempt to cover as much as possible.

Part 1: Society and Development

Change is the only constant. Society changes with change in technology, change in people's outlook, and more obviously, change in generation. The much-revered freedom fighters of yesteryear are only names to memorise today. Subhas Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mahatma Gandhi are names of personalities to be mentioned only on the eve of the Independence day. Do people nowadays actually feel for the nation when they sing the national anthem? Do they for once remember the great martyrs who died in order that others might live? People might argue that such an act does not show that they are indifferent to the leaders who sacrified themselves for a noble cause. Although it may sound stereotypical, but unfortunately enough, today's leaders are not 'leaders' in the true sense. Today's leaders are busy pointing out the fault of others rather than upgradation of the society. The Central and the State governments of India lack cooperation in clear-cut terms. People claim India to be a 'developing nation', but is it not developing for the past sixty-odd years? Are the emergence of skyscrapers, or inauguration of shopping complexes a good measure for development? The actual development lies within the people themselves. We are becoming quiet like robots, leading where we are led, having no conscience of our own. 

Part 2: Education and Lifestyle

Education is the biggest asset which nobody can deny, but the course of education has suffered a gradual change. It can be assured that no Gen-Z kid would love to hear whining from elders about the degree of sufferance they had to bear. Without involving in the conflict, I want to drive my focus to the modern education system. The present system is based on the pillars of marks and gradation. In India, there is very little opportunity for someone to pursue research work on their subject of interest. At the school level, there exists an invisible peril of marks that creates an unwanted pressure on the students. Study in itself is not a burden- the pressure to score more is. The true merit of a student is not judged at these rudimentary levels of education, but the ability to retain contextual "keywords" is. In my opinion, given a more congenial and free environment, these students can spread out their talents in a more wider space. Coming to lifestyle, majority of the people nowadays have four phases in their life: Study to get a thick pay-packet, get married when financially stable, lament at the age of the fifties that they could have got a better job, and ultimately experience death, thereby commanding a halt to this monotonous routine. Where's the taste of life? Where's the ups and downs, and where's the thrill? Teenagers and youths of today engage themselves in 'updating' to the latest trends available in the market. There's an interesting juxtaposition that can be accommodated here- is it downright difficult to update their outlook towards life? 

Man has gone far. Scientists have travelled a lot through science and have given us new dimensions of life. But as Andrew Carnegie puts it, "You cannot push anyone up a ladder, unless he is willing to". It is we who have to begin by changing ourselves, our society and our lifestyles for a better tomorrow.