The importance of human values in today's times

The trouble with children is that they grow and as they grow ,they change ,when they are small, their elders are their friends, their companions ,their play mates and soul mates but as youngster turns in to teens and the teens enter twenties ,then their pals of yesteryear are only the'old'.They are avoided, neglected ,resented ,discarded .Now and then they are pitied and none care too hoots for them which to the old is worse than all.

The trouble with children is that they grow without realising that they too turn old. The so-called generation gap is one of the huge modern fictions conjured up to justify the callousness of the age (that is of the times).Whence has this suddenly erupted? The elders of today never did hear of it during their youth. They did not suffer from any such hang-ups .In fact they did not think of their age or the other's age at all. They looked up on their elders as equals who knew more, strive more and achieved more-not merely as those who were older .Today an elder is regarded only as older .All his other personalities are ignored and he is merely looked up on as an old fogey who must be tolerated because he is there.

But the old were not born old, nor will the young ,alas remain young forever .Even "bubbling youth and infirm old all must consign to thee and come to dust" .Also it is a fallacy to suppose that all the 'young' are young or the 'old' old. Many of the young are old in their thinking, in their ways, in their actions and reactions. Many of the old are young in theirs, It is therefore wrong to divide the human race in to the old and the young and to separate worlds with the seven seas between them.(Recollect Sri,Sri's famous stanza(' kontamandi yuvakulu puttukato vrudddulu').

Special homes for the aged are no solution to the problem .This amounts to their segregation and confining them in ghettos. It may take care in a manner of speaking of their physical and material needs. However as one grows in age ,one's emotional needs are greater. Companionship, affection, consideration, sentiment ---these needs are comprehensive and compelling and cry for relief for satisfaction. No amount of money credited to old man's account or other communications or even routine visits are a substitute for these. The old continue to care for the value rather than the price of things. They want in full except where it is utterly impossible, to be near their near and dear ones. They will not be satisfied with formalities and virtual feigned affections .They want to be wanted.

In this delicate and sensitive relationships India does not have to follow the example of the West who revel in building homes for the aged, India is different and the people are different and one hopes -their leaders ,political ,social, spiritual are different. If they are, they will be satisfied with buildings walls around the aged and telling them "look ,how well we protect you!"What good care we take of you! what more can we do for you?

Much can be done. Much needs to be done. We cannot avoid doing this by the simple expedient of blaming the ' generation gap' for the suffering that we inflict up on our respected elders .We must not think of them as the old, the aged, the weak, the diseased .We must think of them as part of ourselves and treat them accordingly. Only then can the problem of the "Generation gap" be resolved. Life for all is nothing but the bundle of emotions, love, memories and bonds. Let us strive to strengthen the basic human values.

Rama KrishnaM, Kakinada