The Poison of Conservativeness

It is my general belief that a nation, whose very base is set on conservativeness, cannot progress. If Morality is allowed to dominate over Practicality, then the thinking of Society will never be progressive, let alone liberal. This fact has been highlighted by two facts: The recent Inter-religious Marriage between a Hindu Girl and a Muslim boy, as well as the Shilpa Shetty Fiasco with Richard Gere during an AIDS awareness campaign. Both these facts suggest that certain parts of India, predominantly, the Cow Belt, are still dwelling in Medieval times.

The most personal of choices like Marriage has been blown out of proportion by both the Hindi and English Media. If a Girl likes a Boy or vice versa, then they have the ultimate liberty to go ahead and marry. What right does Society have in determining the life of individuals? It is here that i will once again point out, that to view everything from a religious and moral point of view is detrimental not only to individuals, but also to Society. Measures adopted by some communities are literally curbing the freedom of movement of an Individual.

The Shilpa Shetty Fiasco is also a case in point. This time it regards to Richard Gere publicly kissing her in an AIDS awareness campaign. It prompted burning of effigies by people all across the Cow Belt. Now, the stupidity of this was that there were only about 100 people or more practicing these protests. The Media coverage, in particular that of the Hindi Media (the standout being Star "News"), was as expected unworthy. It is because of News Media like these that allow trivial things to get saturation coverage and put other issues on the side.

Both these cases highlight the fact, that Morality and Conservartism, are poisonous to the entire societal spectrum. To eliminate this Poison is also not feasible or easy. This, for the simple reason, that it is very hard to Define Conservatism. Individual minds have varied interpretations of this term. Each and every individual in this century has a strong knowledge, perhaps, of what is good and Bad in life. To dismiss Liberal values as Vulgar and Infiltration of Culture is only sidetracking the issue that Conservatism is indeed a problem.

Media, like some Hindi Media, has to now encounter Flak. I am not saying this because I belong to the English speaking public. But, if you look at the content of some of these News channels, it really mkes you wonder wether you are watching serious informative news or Infotainment. Both these cases, Publicity has been given to such an extent, that the people have ventured into their Jingoistic moods. The Jingoism shown by the people over these two incidents make you realize of the Medieviality of Conservative India. If India faces this scenario, in the coming few years, then society will never develop, let alone the country. I guess India is a country of Crossroads, where Liberal Society and Traditional Moral society are at loggerheads once again.