'Shravan Kumar' Example Misdirected Print E-mail

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Written by Sanjay Kumar   
Wednesday, 26 May 2010 17:33

Shravan KumarShravan Kumar I read "Shravan Kumar" award being offered to certain people for services to their parents. I submit to your readers that example of "Shravan Kumar" has served to misdirect the focus of society and is one of the factors behind downfall of India.

 While we all should take care of our parents at their old age, our primary duties must be with raising our children. Indian society values elders far more than they value their children. A son who does not care for his parents is criticized and looked down upon by whole society. The same society is glad to look the other way while parents bring far too many children into the world - the children for whom they do not have financial and emotional resources. The same society is glad to hire these these little kids as maids, servants and dishwahsers. You can see how this misdirected focus has led to overpopulation. People are busy trying to get their mothers and mother in law happy without a worry about the children they are producing. This has also led to rampant poverty. That award money of thousands of rupees would have been better utilized supporting education for the little ones.

 I wish that example of Shravan Kumar did not exist. We should teach our young children how to be good parents for the next generation and stop mortgaging our future to take care of the past.


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TAGS: OLD-AGE, PARENTING, PARENTS, SHRAVAN KUMAR
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# Ranjit Varma 2010-05-27 19:50
I totally agree with the above statements. There is no doubt we all have a duty towards one's parents --- BUT the priority should be #1 spouse (wife / husband), #2 children, #3 parents / parents-in-laws, #4 your family / friends, and #5 onwards the society in general !! It is very easy to state such things ---- when it comes to actual practice --- I know it is very tough to balance the priorities !! BUT, if we embed this sequence in our hearts and minds, we can at least be assured of being right most of the times !!!
 
 
# Ajay Kumar 2010-06-05 08:06
How easy it is to criticize a good work! Mahavir Temple Trust is promoting devotion and respect in today's kids towards their parents which we are in fear of losing due to Western impact. And the author also wishes that Shravan Kumar example did not exist! What a travesty of thought.

Let's think it this way. Every generation has responsibility towards the next generation (kids) and past generation (parents). This is not a black and white area where if you do one, you can not do the other. In fact both responsibilities are complimentary and draw strength from one another. If we have love and respect for our parents, the same will show up in raising our kids as well.

Let me remind all of us a saying in Maithili "Buddha aa bachha ek samaan" (which means old people and kids are same in many respects as we think deeply). Kids get a lot of care/love in the hands of their grand-parents, learn so many nuggets of culture and remain very close to them. In turn, grand-parents see a new lease of life in these kids and have their hope rejuvenated.

Let us learn to keep a balance in life. Priorities are never set in stone and they change according to the time and need every moment. While being objective helps human beings in many ways, lets keep the perspective of subjectivity relevant and utilize it for our own sake (after all we were kids one day and will be grand parents as well one day).
 
 
# Ambuj Anand 2010-06-05 08:45
Kudos to you for putting it so succinctly. I wholeheartedly agree with you. No one ever said that just because you care about your parents, you cannot take care of your children or your wife. It's a balancing act and that's what separates boys from men.
 
 
# Rajni kant Singh 2010-07-02 22:18
When we say, take care of kids and spouse more than one's parent, it is not difficult to understand that modern day life is getting more and more confined and that there is a limited scope of care and time towards other family members.

Well I have a differet perception here, this is not about the fast paced life or one's lifestyle... it is more of one's attitude towards complexities that life brings. Parents can't be put on margin just because one has got a new family to nurture. It is more than just responsibility to take due care of parents and extend the warmth of love that once they blessed us with.

They very well deserve a peaceful and cared life, of course the spouse and children can't be ignored at same time. I believe it is not that difficult to stay together and care for each other. Rather in a joint family, everyone gets cared more, provided the family maintains due respect and love for members.
 

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