Gandhiji has once said that it is important to achiev the destination but equally important are the means which have been used to achieve them. However, in the present circumstances, we seem to have forgotten this important observation of the great Mahatma. Twenty-first Century is the manifestation of speed and technology. In this era, most of the time we do not even think in the terms of the means. Our only objective is to achieve the target by hook or by crook. For instance, whenever we purchase something, our attention is upon its techno making. The decision of something being modern is taken on these two criteria: the speed and the technology. In this era of speed and technology, our sensitivities have dried up. We have been indifferent to our moral growth. Traditionally acclaimed moral values have since been forgotten. It does not matter to us if the tasks before us are unethical or immoral ones. In the futile race of money, power and defeating others, somewhere we have defeated our own morality. The stream of compassion and sympathy is fast drying up. That is why; we see so much violence over the print as well as the electronic media and our hearts do not cry. Instead, we enjoy such news. Is not it a shame upon us? Is not it the proof that we have forgotten our real values? This is one great point to understand. And let me tell you that without the moral values, man becomes like an beast. There is no difference between the man and the beast except we the human beings have culturally developed and the beasts have not. Our culture and civilization is nothing but a convention of empathy and affection. It teaches us to love others it directs to help those who are in need and it makes us accountable for those whom we did not help when they were in need and we were in a position to help them.
This sense of love for others is expressed in the various places in the great Indian culture. The famous verse that declares, "may all be happy, may all be healthy, may all be noble, let nobody feel sad", is a perfect example of these moral values which we are observing for around five thousand years. However, in last hundred years, this great heritage of ethical character has weakened. The reasons for the weakening of the tradition of moral values are numerous. Not a single point can be held responsible for this. The main thing is that we have forgotten our real goal. We have forgotten that the real character of the human beings is to love the fellow beings. It is not in the habit of us to hate and kill others. It is the nature of the beasts. We have the real knowledge to learn and teach others the feeling of "live and let live". Therefore, it is very crucial that we should find the reasons of this demoralization and the degradation amongst us.
In fact, unless we investigate the same, we are not able to develop the skills of morality. We have to be honest in our approach of investigating the reasons of loss of the morality. There is a greater need than ever to inculcate the moral education in the heart of our adolescents.
What are moral values?
The moral values are discussed in detail but one is not clear about the definition of the same. Morality is related to our soul. The soul is abstract and hence cannot be expressed in the material terms. Therefore, it is not easy to define the moral values. In essence, all that is good is moral and all that is bad is immoral. But the next question arises whether what is good and what is not. There is an old saying which tells that whatever is sad for others is bad and whatever gives happiness to others is good. We are taught that we should live for the service of others and not for just our own self. We are told that we should not tell a lie. But whenever there is need we do not hesitate to tell a lie. If need arises, we do not even hesitate to make others unhappy. So there is a kind of hypocrisy in our behaviour.
The point is how this hypocrisy can be ended. The main idea is to look into our own behaviour. If the behaviour we expect from others is the same that we have for others, there is nothing wrong. But the problem is that we expect of others that they should do well to us and we forget to reciprocate the same to them. If we can change our behaviour and tell ourselves that love begets love, the problems of today's world would be over.
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