People have slowly adapted to many positive changes, but remain steadfast to some
People have gradually adopted many positive changes, but remain firm towards some
wAt first let’s talk casually about how things have gotten worse over the years. Sometimes, we see some things that have slowly changed and yet we rarely talk about them. I took note of a few things I’ve seen in recent years.
This topic was taboo three decades ago. Nobody talked about it publicly. End of topic. Duration! It’s not a dirty secret anymore. Realizing the difficulties women go through, men have started showing sensitivity towards them and reacting appropriately. Many corporate companies are considering giving a privilege that women can take one day off every month to face difficulties.
These days the husband is allowed into the delivery room to provide physical and emotional support to the wife during labour. Something that was unheard of even 20 years ago. When one sees the labor and birth of a child, all male ego vanishes. It has been replaced by a new sympathy and care for the wife.
Unlike earlier generations, many parents today are not discriminating between their children on the basis of gender when it comes to teaching them household chores. Also, they encourage their girls not only to be financially savvy but also to be financially independent.
The more respectable and widely used terms these days are physically handicapped or visually impaired or, even better, differently abled. It is heartening to see that every new building being constructed has government mandates to provide easy access to the differently abled.
Orphanages not only receive children orphaned by the untimely death of their parents, but also children whose parents may face financial crunch. According to a translated version of the popular Tamil proverb, “All places are ours. All are our relatives”, no one in the world is an orphan. Very fittingly, orphanages nowadays are mostly called children’s homes.
Regressive thoughts have always limited our actions, which were mostly biased or exclusive but views can change. Some people are born with a genetic mutation but that doesn’t make them less human than others. We get many application forms, both offline and online, which have the option of third gender.
It was never before in us to stand in line. More than three decades ago, people would come from all directions to crowd around ticket counters at railway stations or bus stations. It is heartening to see that there is some discipline today as people stand patiently in queues even when there are no barricaded queue lanes.
In one of my train journeys, I was pleasantly surprised to see that a middle-aged man offered his reserved lower berth seat in the train to a senior citizen, who was fit enough to climb into his reserved upper berth. It was simple and genuine. There was no compulsion, no demand or any strange sight. Nevertheless, he gave up his lower berth in view of the elders, who might not have been so true to themselves thirty years ago.
These changes may seem isolated or insignificant or limited or unimportant but they are actually welcome and commendable. The seeds of these changes were sown decades ago. Despite the slow pace, they have turned out to be fruitful. It’s a matter of time that everyone embraces them. Many more seeds were sown but were not nourished enough to break the ground.
One fine day, I was flipping through the daily newspaper and casually browsing the matrimonial section of the classifieds. I understand that some things are cast in stone. There is little chance of change in the near future. You can read it again.
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