A youngster (Chotu Sharma) in his twenties threw a four year girl out of a moving train after a heated argument with child’s family over a seat. The girl is critically injured. (Source: The Hindu, Dec 9)
The news left me appalled and the sheer disgust I felt at the heinous act is beyond description. The loathing was too strong for me to just ignore the not-so-unusual incident. Yet for a while a sense of bewilderment engulfed me, waking me up to the stark reality of the violence ridden world from which the safe havens of my college keep me ignorant or rather subconscious. The only question that was haunting me then was: How? How can a man’s tolerance degrade enough to go berserk with one of the most innocent form of life? The most troublesome fact being, this is not uncommon!
Instead of the general bypassing this news as one of its kind, I tried to find what can be the plausible cause for the mounting levels of violence at an unprecedented rate. Is it the manifestation of one’s insecurity (Adler-ism), egotism (Freud-ism), or simply is man taking to barbarism back again?
Through ages have mankind progressed to its present state of ‘agreeable and civilized’ societal living where values, ethics, morals, and customs are said to be the foundation of a sustainable society. Although, treading on the path of violence have civilizations transformed with pacifism as the ultimate goal, but the transformation occurring today at the psychological level are unsettling. The heightened sense of individualism clubbed with the escalating ambitions are loosening the social framework which binds the mankind, diluting the very humane nature of our species. Never before have psychological scientists fared so well!
Change is the only constant, yet the changes can be monitored and directed within capacity. Ours is a society in transition with people like Aung San Su kyi at one extreme and the likes of Chotu Sharma or Hafeez Sayeed at the other. The growing intolerance, impatience, short-temperedness and egotism amongst many are a reflection of the direction we are moving towards. In the race of God-knows-what, we forget that life is all about being happy and happiness can never amalgamate with negativity.
The need of the hour is for each one of us to reflect and dwell upon the changes that our happening within us, for violence starts from one’s thoughts. Every single being is an important strand in the chain of change. We can bring the change only by being the change!
