Sept 2007

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Message for September ‘07

THE ABSENCE OF HEROES

The present generation is singularly lacking in one respect, much as they are over-endowed with other ‘satisfactions’ – they are deprived of real heroes to emulate and worship and have therefore to be content with celluloid ones or caricatures from the playing fields of one kind or the other.

Our generation had the Father of the Nation, our first Prime Minister, the Architect of our Constitution, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, Jayaprakash Narayan the Leader of our Democratic renaissance. Acharya Vinobha Bhave and many others, particularly Teachers, even if considered supporting actors on our national stage.

Therefore it is not surprising that our recently retired President Dr. Kalam has been invested with so much respect and affection from the public which having been starved of demonstrative, dedicated leadership has found one in him – a scholar statesman, without question. So at last a Hero !

A society needs heroes not only for emulation but to derive from them a sort of collective confidence and self-respect as if to say there goes one of us. Even if the admirers and fans are unable to reach such heroic levels, there is a discernible knock-on effect of having acknowledged heroes in our midst – a sort of reflected glory. However, it is also a mark of the society itself to recognize that the Heroes’ accolade is bestowed upon the activities or values that it most respects and indeed follows. In a society of criminals, the Don or gang over-lord is the hero, in a repressed society subjected to inequalities, a Robin Hood is invested with a heroic profile, and so on.

To produce heroes at least in the future we have to invest in them now – hence the indubitable necessity to invest in our youth (the child is the father of the Man) to inculcate in them the right values so that they may evolve into characters that will in time, come to command respect – and perhaps attain heroic status. Parents need to be more mindful of this aspect in training their children, we need teachers who are worthy of respect, as indeed our generation’s teachers were – and from these ‘metallurgists’ comes the metal that builds the sturdy framework of potential heroes.

Sometimes, I wonder how we can help from our various social service organizations to provide the soft skills that our youth need, to mould them into better citizens, and indeed better human beings. Brethren could most usefully read, digest and follow our ritual book which has all those values embedded in them – worthy of emulation!