All World
Gayatri Pariwar

What is the correct definition of progress?

We have entered the last year of the first decade of 21st century.  There is a nagging question in front of us – what should be considered as the measuring rod for progress? What should be the right definition of progress so that we can objectively take stock of the journey so far and the road that lies ahead? At the pinnacle of scientific progress if I were to say that we have not even been able to define what holistic progress, the progress of entire humanity is, you will definitely consider me a strange person who is turning a blind eye to the so-called progress in the shape of sprawling mega cities, flyovers, super markets, metro, skyscrapers and the grand cars that ply on the roads.

I am able to see everything. But what do I do? Without defining what progress is, how can I tell that what we see today is indeed progress? If this is progress, then why do we see so many people resorting to suicides due to mental unrest? Why is the number of people suffering from hitherto unknown mental diseases on the rise? Why are families getting broken with increased prosperity? The storm of materialism seems to be abating in the West. We see people of the occident adopting Indian culture, yoga, spirituality and peace-loving life style. What is the reason why we Indians are becoming more and more western and becoming more and more materialistic and running after transient chimeras of consumerism? Is progress to be measured by the number of discotheques started or on the basis of the number of English medium schools and colleges or the number of medical colleges, where students get admitted after hefty donations, or based on the number of management institutions that have cropped up like mushrooms. Can this be called progress?

Cows and farming are being affected

What is the reason for farmers resorting to suicide? Area of farming land, that used to once shower gold, is rapidly sinking. Farmers are becoming millionaires by selling their land. Due to lack of right principles of living, the money thus gained is being frivolously squandered. Villages are being devastated. Talented village youth are making an exodus from villages and turning to towns. The number of such unemployed village youth is increasing by the day and are getting rejected in the towns and cities. The process of slaughtering the cows is continuing. According to our religion, we look upon the cow as the mother, offer respect to her and look upon her as the bestower of auspiciousness and prosperity. Her meat is being exported to foreign countries. The young calves are being killed so that their skin could be used to make articles of fashion. The oxen that should have been yoked to the plough on the fields are being killed. But it is we who have proclaimed them to be unusable and have bought tractors. We are using chemical fertilizers instead of using the byproducts of cattle. We prefer to sell the cows so that we get the value for them and are spared the trouble of raising the cattle and the maintenance associated with it. Is this progress? We are not worried if the land becomes barren. Countless farmers are weighed down by the burden of debt and are facing untimely death. KFCs and Mc Donalds are doing great business. Then why to worry?

Our objects of reverence and worship have changed?

Has our inherited thinking been like this or has it become like this. Are we what the electronic media and newspapers have made us? When all the channels are busy broadcasting politicians, film artists and sports, how will we understand what is happening in our country? In the name of progress, our roots are being cut. The edifice of so-called prosperity is ready to fall any moment. All the roads are leading to the cities and metros. This is how our thinking has been made. An average Indian has been made insensitive to the deeper values of human life and that is why we are not able to see the destruction that is hidden behind this progress.

Dangers – receding water table

Natural calamities have not come. We have invited them. Deserts have not been formed, we have made them. Rivers did not dry up, we have dried them up. The underground water which was the source of life for us has been used up. Where from do we get the supply of water to these huge palaces and mansions that have come up? This question is haunting everyone now, be it Bangalore or Mumbai, Gurgaon or Faridabad or those cities or colonies that are coming up along the highways. One need not be surprised if the next war is waged for water.

Where do we find the solution?

Issues like global warming, climate change, untimely rainfall, unprecedented rainfall, too less or too much rainfall are the burning topics of discussion in the entire world. Why are all these happening? We all know the reasons but are not ready to accept them and take corrective steps. Conventions and conferences are being organized but are not reaching at any conclusion. The arguments between countries have been about who has thrown more carbon into the environment. Countries are blaming one another for the carbon footprint. Nobody is ready to budge. My brothers! Change your life style. Move away from artificial life style and adopt natural living. Don’t talk about urbanization and take concrete steps to better the lot of villages. Nobody thinks on these lines. When people sit in air-conditioned rooms and discuss about problems faced by farming and water crisis; about why deforestation is happening - how will the solutions be arrived at? These questions will be answered by identifying and tackling the root of problems.

We have strangled the throat of education

One of the significant criteria of progress is education. We have cut the throat of that very education. In other countries, education continues almost till the third phase of life. In India, more than 50% of children do not even continue till high school education. Among the total number of students who get enrolled for primary education, 2/3rds of them are deprived of college education. The reason being dearth of schools, teachers, teachers refusing to serve in remote and small villages, poverty, circumstances prevailing at home which force them to become laborers and privatization of the higher studies. On the other hand, there are many educated people, doctors, government officials, engineers, academicians; but none of them know the true art of living. What do you do with education that gives birth to brahmarakshasas who go and settle in foreign countries leaving their parents to die here in their old age.

Let us formulate new definition for progress

Can we do something about it? Let us formulate a new definition for progress. For allround development of a nation, we require individuals who will contribute to the physical, mental and emotional progress of the society. We need people who can link education and knowledge and give birth to cultured personalities. We want that progress which will oppose killing of cows and will develop a life style based on cow-based products. We want that progress which will establish yoga as a science and art of living. We want that progress which will keep us healthy with food and vegetables that nourish the life-force in us. We want progress that will teach not about exploitation and consumerism but inculcate a need-based life style and sense of mutual caring and sharing. We want that progress which will lead to our spiritual progress and collective well-being.

The system should change, so should the life style

How should this progress be achieved? We have to evolve a system based on our new definitions. We have to make this auspicious beginning with our own life style. Are we capable of changing our daily life style? Can we adopt the discrimination which will make us look at long term benefits rather than short term gains? We have been deceiving ourselves so long; we have lived a life of so-called comforts; will we be able to bring about any revolutionary change in our life styles? We have to ask this question to ourselves. We have to start this transformation with ourselves by changing our small little habits first. The moment this atmosphere is created, change will set in. When the atmosphere changes, more and more people will adopt spiritual life and a life centered around villages, and the entire society will start changing positively. A person who voluntarily and gladly lives a life of restraint and simplicity will be looked upon with respect and reverence.

This is the only solution

Someone might complain why such things are being written during the 21st century when it is the era of computer – internet – web surfing – virtual life style. I am writing this because this is the only solution. A diseased person always feels like eating what he should not be eating. If he has to get treated for his disease, he has to eat bitter medicine and has to be taught about right eating habits and life style. When this happens, then we will see computers in the villages and they will be working on alternate electricity. Folk entertainment will also reach everyone and they will co-exist along with the computer. Villagers would be happy to utilize products of cow’s milk and would also get organic fertilizers. There will be eco-friendly homes. Don’t you want this kind of progress? If you want it, join our Yug Nirman Yojana movement. We aim to bring about a holistic transformation by 2020.