Nov 26, 2024
Nov 26, 2024
by T. A. Ramesh
Education does not end in schools and colleges but continues in life and work in the outside world. Actually real education begins when one comes out of the portals of schools and colleges to Nature, arts, science and so on. Whether one is educated or not most of the time is used for the day-to-day activities which produce only monotony, frustration, depression and so on. It is not enough to spend one's life in mundane things only which would certainly make the world too much to live for everyone. Each one should use the special power that lies within to explore the nature of things that exists everywhere and enquire the principles or the truth behind them so that the helplessness of man or the ills of human beings can be overcome. There are so many interesting things in life which man has to pay attention to. Unless such an attempt is made social problems cannot be solved.
Drawbacks and Necessity of Change in the Society
There are a lot of drawbacks not only in education, religion, economy, administration, judiciary and politics but also in culture, civilization, journalism and arts affecting the society unaware and making it go on in the same old beaten tracks without giving hope in new thoughts, ideas and changes. So, innovations and novelty are very much needed for the society to breathe fresh and healthy air. Therefore the writers have an important job to do in the modern world to bring about the necessary changes relevant to the present and the future functions of the people of various walks of life. The thoughts of this nature are necessary to express views towards the betterment of the society in which we all live. So, they have to analyze the problems of human life, culture, civilization, Nature, etc. in the modern world as the subjects of general discussion and find solutions for them.
Social Change Necessary
The big question everybody discusses everywhere is why the society is not able to change, reform and develop itself even though there are a lot treatises, discourses, seminars and speeches on social changes. In reality it is an impossible magic to bring about changes in the society over night. The social changes cannot be appreciably effected without convincing the individuals because they are the backbone of the society. Therefore to reform the society, first the attitude of the individuals has to be changed; otherwise, change in the society is not at all possible. That is why in almost all the articles, the matters of the individuals with respect to the society or humanity as a whole are dealt with in the world.
Status of Freedom Today
Even in the modern times in many societies of the world individuals of great promises are not given the liberty to choose the subject of their interest in education, the work interesting to them and the life they like to live in the future as the so called experienced seniors who have fought for the national or political or social causes do not like to give away their dictatorial attitude with the youngsters for the fear that their status quo would be disturbed and that they would lose their respect and honor in the society at the ripe old age. Further, though there is freedom in many States of the world, because the aspiring individuals do not have liberty, opportunities and scope for development as a result of State control, licenses, social restrictions and favoritism of all kinds, the freedom becomes equal to no freedom at all. Therefore the famous feeling of Rousseau that man is born free, yet he is in chains everywhere is quite true even today. Hence it should be realized that without freedom nothing worthwhile could be possible on the earth and so people have to be educated for freedom first before anything else.
Things Needed
Today it is clearly seen that all sorts of malpractices, favoritism, nepotism, corruption, conventions, customs and obsolete traditions are being followed in all the fields of human endeavor whether it is education or judiciary, politics or bureaucracy, religion or society, etc. crippling the developmental activities of the people. So, it is necessary that everything has to be corrected, reoriented and reformed in order to allow healthy developments of the world to go on smoothly and congenially satisfying the sincere, good and honest people of the world. Hence it is the duty of intellectuals and writers to analyze all the matters concerning human life, bring out the best things and truth in them and suggest suitable solutions for all the problems therein paving the way for a better world and in this way do a noble service to mankind.
Human Nature Not Changed
Science and technology have undoubtedly modernized the nations of the world. In the modern world political, economic and social changes have civilized many nations and because of these changes, cultures of the world have also changed but man has not still changed. People still think about the same old questions such as what life is; how life has to be lived in the world; and what is called justice in life. Though the questions look to be simple, yet it is difficult to give convincing answers today in the modern world.
Justice in Life
Indeed joys and sorrows constitute human life. To live a good life one should have good knowledge of one's self, others, world, Universe and God, then one should earn wealth according to one's knowledge and interest and enjoy all possible pleasures of the world; then one should give all the emotional, intellectual and material gains to others to enjoy the benefits and finally prepare oneself spiritually to die peacefully allowing the soul to travel freely to the other world of perfect peace. That is called a just life in the normal circumstances. Living according to justice seeking truth is the best way of life. But today how many hurdles are there on the path of justice making every good citizen almost impossible to go according to justice in the present world?
Man as Free Bird
Man wants to be as free as a bird and want to do as he likes beautiful, good and great things without harming anyone in the world. This is the eternal dream of man for which he has been creating or inventing so many things with new and new ideas and makes realities many of his good dreams and goes on in that direction forever and ever. Also, he dreams so many things, gets ideas to realize them, but realities may be contrary or different too! That is another thing. But whatever be the thing man should live as man. That is where his happiness, peace and satisfaction lie. Otherwise, he will be some other thing which has to be changed. That is what has to be discussed at length in particular.
Machine-beast-men and Inhuman Creatures
The advancements in science and technology have increased interest in materialism overshadowing human values in such a way that man works as machine, lives as animal and has become a machine-beast-man in the advanced countries and because of too much politics in all walks of life man has become as inhuman creature in the underdeveloped and developing countries of the world. In this situation, he has destroyed not only art and culture but also destroying Nature which is equal to the destruction of human race itself. Therefore, the dream of humanism prevailing over the world affairs of men seems to be the best panacea for the malaise of man. For this too Nature only seems to give the ideas necessary to fulfill this dream. To solve all the problems of men, creation of one world can be the final necessity. Therefore the dream of preserving Nature, developing humanism and creating one world for making this world a better place to live, ideas from Nature have to be used to make these dreams into realities.
Nothing is Impossible
In Napoleon's dictionary there was no word called impossible; what was impossible is possible and what is impossible will be possible ' was the motto of Napoleon. Man makes possible the impossible things and gets satisfaction in his dreams and imaginary works for the present; and hopes that they would be materialized successfully and realized actually in the future! Even Einstein believes that imagination is more important than intelligence. In fact man lives two lives ' one for his Self and one for his Dreams. Life without dreams is uninteresting and impossible to live. To satisfy himself he dreams and to fulfill his dreams he pays heavy price in life because desires, dreams and visions make him active and make life worth living in this world.
Nature the Best Friend
Nature is simply the living scientific art revealing the philosophy of life. There is beauty everywhere. There is truth hidden in everything. There is manifestation of love in all their activities. Naturally Nature is the friend, philosopher and guide to man. So, man gets inspiration, ideas and encouragement directly from nature. Being a part of it he imitates nature and tries to overcome the whole! For all the living beings ' fish, fowl and flower there is birth, growth, decay and death. So also it is the same for man too. There is direct regeneration for plants, but, for animals and man perhaps there are rebirths of different kind, which needs to be studied further to have a correct conclusion. But the cycle of life goes on in the same way for all living beings.
Culture for Humanism
The duration of life between birth and death is unknown. But within the life how best one can live is the wise thing one can aim at. For that, the only best way to follow is culture. Based on experience and knowledge the system we follow to live with good manners and morality can simply be called as culture which includes love of Nature, music and books cherished in humanism aiming perfection in thoughts, words and deeds. Even civilization without the basis of culture is unreliable. That is why modern civilization has made human life proceed in fear and anxiety in the performance of things, increased dangers deadly hazardous to health and driven the world to the brink of savagery and destruction. Religion may make a cultured person a divine being but culture teaches tolerance, patience, hospitality and unity in diversity and converts a brute into a human being because of its humanism which is what most needed today in the world. Further, for all the problems of the world we can say that the ultimate solution is the creation of one world through culture.
18-Jun-2006
More by : T. A. Ramesh