Friday, September 8, 2017

NO DOUBT, AN OLD MORAL STORY BUT..

“Suddenly the ship was on flames. The Captain was busy in fighting out the fire and rescuing his people. As his young son too was with him, he quickly positioned his boy on the high point of the deck saying,

'Don’t move from here till I come back!'

Soon the entire ship caught fire and the brave Captain died in flames. The fire finally came on to the deck and few survivors around asked the boy to step down to save himself. The boy said,

'My father asked me to stay here till he comes back!'

When he was informed that his father died in the fire, the boy said with all firmness,

'I won't move until he comes back!'

Soon the fire engulfed him!"

Thus narrated the father routinely the age old famous story (The credit of that story goes to the Author) heard in his times to his 14 yr old son as part of instilling certain morals of respecting elders..

Having heard the story the son said,

“Dad! I've a doubt.. Why didn't the boy first save his life which was really precious? He wasn't correct in sticking to a simple verbal order saying,

'My father should come and then only I'll move!'”

The father taken a back a bit became silent instantly and in sometime the son left for his activities.. Subsequently the dad discussed the matter with an elderly well-wisher saying,

“It's the effect of the Generation Gap.. I feel sad for the younger generation of today for not able to uphold morals and ethics of life which we valued so much when we were at that age!"

The well-wisher, a man of deep wisdom looked at him, smiled and said,

“Dear! I'm of a different opinion here. The youngsters of today are more interested in questioning everything and accept only the relevant..
.
This attitude is in fact the right way for betterment of one's life rather than accepting what is told through an indirect authority of cultural and moral values which have their own shortcomings too!”

"Sir! I don't get your point.. Should we leave our children like that when they forever lose the good part of what we learnt in our childhood?"

“No dear.. I never mean there 100%.. In fact, this story of our times is the Number One in preaching the duties of a son towards a parent and the story surely upholds the same Values even today..

But a small clarification here..

We, of older generation never questioned here even a bit but accepted the whole as is because to oppose the elderly advice was considered a sin but still as we know equal number of times, parents of our generation too had their problems with their children who are the mature adults of today sometimes serious issues too at the back of even being taught such morals in our younger days..

It means.. The percolation of this Great Message into our own doings in the right direction was not that much and in some cases was not at all there so to say..

In contrast, today's youngsters many times are

  • Squarely questioning in such instances, 
  • Assessing the right and the wrong out of their own intuition, 
  • Redefining the Values where required and thus are
  • Leading their lives out of their freedom..
Instead of Taking the Message as an imposition!

No doubt equal number of times, the surrounding glitter and glamour sure distracts and misguides them from doing the Right but that used to happen in our times too only in a different way if we recollect our younger days..

So let's just educate our youth at this point of time that they should forever guard themselves from the ill effects of such a glitter and glamour around beyond a limit but never in the form of imposed morals..

Seen in such a perspective, don't you agree that the youth of today are sure expressing themselves better thru' questioning which is 100% the gist of one's life at any point of time? In that context, they expect a certain of their own Privacy and Space, what's wrong in that?”

An old Post is brought out suitably edited/modified but retaining the core message in respect of

True Effect of the Generation Gap

In today's world for submission to the IndiSpire Prompt

The concept of privacy and space seems to have taken over today's generation. Have things really changed, or is this another example of the older generation having selective memory? #GenerationGap

Keywords: Generation Gap

14 comments:

  1. Casablanca !!! I loved the poem though I agree with you that questioning is better than blindly obeying.

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    1. Yes! Questioning forever beats any other method of knowing the Right.... And the Blind Faith never takes us there at any time! Thanks for the Comment....

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  2. Yes the youth today questions before accepting anything blindly, and I feel it is right.

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    1. You said it very much correct, Indrani! The seven tools of questioning....WHY, WHERE, WHAT, WHO, WHEN, WHICH & HOW are constantly to be used by all for truly knowing the Right and wrong around us.... Thanks for the nice Observation!

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  3. Awesome write......and I feel it's right to clarify than accepting something blindly!!!

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    1. I agree very much with you and that's ever the Safety with us.... Thanks a lot for such a good Comment on the Post!

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  4. Nicely penned... I too feel that questioning for understanding is better than following blindly but .. if situation demand (on rare occasions) I feel Id follow my parents even if I disagree after letting them know about my viewpoint.

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    1. I understand here the limitation and an all lovable experienced Parent by side truly supports there..... In normal Circumstances, where the dangers foreseen are almost nil or minor in expansion, it's wisdom every one explores there freely.... Thanks for a good observation on the limit of action here in this Scenario!

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  5. what a meaningful post! Sometimes the older generation simply misunderstand the intent of the younger one. I have always believed that there is always something to learn from everyone including the young people esp. children, toddlers and infants :)

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    1. Thanks for leaving such a nice Comment, Roohi! Learning is max when freedom is in front rather than inhibitions and controls except in basic safety aspects where well guided freedom does major good many times....

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  6. Hello Sreedhar Sir,
    Awesome post. This is an eye opener for youngster like me and it's absolutely perfect to ask before acting on anything.
    Thank You alot for this wonderful post

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    1. Thanks Yash! In fact, it was the same question put to me by a girl of 14 yrs when I narrated this Story to her while teaching her Subject....

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  7. A meaningful question on any moral value should be accepted. The generation is changing drastically and so should our thoughts.
    Well written sir!

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    1. Rightly said.. Questioning with an intent to learn the right thing is to be allowed freely by one and all.. Thanks for the appreciative comment on the Post!

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