Every
Sunday I sit down in the park near by our apartment to enjoy a leisurely
morning in the company of pleasant sun-shine intersperse with the chirping of
birds amidst soothing calmness of early hours of the day. This Sunday, as I sat
down in the park to meditate upon and rest my body and mind in the morning calm,
my attention was broken by a group of students who spoke to each other in a
loud tone as they stroll into the park after the Rahagiri day. They all wore
branded clothes- branded jeans and tops, track-suits, shoes and other apparels
and flashed costly smart phones. From their clothing they appeared to come from
decent families. They were all friends and quite energetic as I could conclude
from the heated discussion which revolved around student politics. However, I
was dismayed at the language they used. They spoke to each other in a filthy
language not fit to be used even by road side lumpen elements. Their discussion
lacked decency and decorum of speech which was expected of them while in a
public park. They hurled choicest of adjectives on the female relatives of each
other in course of their discussion to berate a point of view of their friend.
The decency of their clothing was exposed in a moment by the indecency of their
etiquette. Shouting over each other to put across one’s point of view has
become quite common these days and this is noticed even in debates over the
various news channels where the viewer is completely unable to make out what’s
exactly going on. This has become the trend because often these channels rope
in only petty politicians and spokesperson of various political outfits. They
do not call eminent personalities of various schools of thoughts. Politician
screaming in full throttle gives these channels higher TRP compared to
intellectuals. Often the anchor takes the liberty to draw hasty conclusion which
suits a channel’s political affiliation to conclude a discussion. Such debates
and discussion does not enrich one’s intellectual capabilities. Those students
engaged in heated discussion in park are a product of such screaming debates.
Earlier All India Radio used to broadcast “Charcha Ka Vishay Hai” in Hindi and
“Current Issues/Spotlight” in English every Wednesday and Thursday respectively
where the participation to debate was restricted to eminent intellectuals of
the society. These debates covered important issue and analyzed them threadbare
and were therefore of great help to students preparing for various competitive
examination. A mad rush for TRP has
destroyed all such good things.
Good is restraint in deed; good is
restraint in speech; good is restraint in mind; good is restraint in
everything. The bhikshu, restrained at all points, is freed from all sorrow and
suffering.
DHAMMAPADA 361.
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