[Peertantyb]

I believe we are approaching a cultural singularity.

I remember one of Bob Dylan's songs from one of his early albums: The Times, They Are A Changin'. Here are some lines from that song:


Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'. This song was written in the 1970s, the heyday of the Hippies and the American cultural revolutions.

Those who can appreciate the song may realize that the song is only an inspired version of the representation of change. Rather than rationalization, it provides me an opportunity to exam what is believed to be going wrong. Benevolent demagogues, aren't we?

Anyway, the matter at hand is an interesting question. I am not very old and by most counts, you would all probably consider me very young. I found out in a tedious way, that a great deal of introspection is required in today's world to step on the right track. One must develop many faculties, never lay idle, be active in thinking about things, pre-empt opportunities, take chances to be intelligent, develop oneself emotionally, physically and mentally, to succeed.

The honest truth is, most people who look for a solution when they are old will never find it. Their pettifogging minds may be able to find new permutations of what they already know, but will not be able to provide them the creative solutions they need required in today's changing world.

Grooming is not an easy task. I realized this when I had a pet. I am sure those of you who have kids know this better than I do.

My mother said something astute, which I want to share with this audience. In one of those moments, when I felt like I swam across an ocean of filth and came out clean and dry, she retorted, "When you were growing up, all I had to do was "pour water" on those seeds germinating inside you which I thought were good." At least this is the essence of what she said.

In my experience this means that more introspection and thinking is required for raising a child well than for merely living well. And this introspection has to provide inspiration, it has to provide a philosophy which changes one from within so deeply, that one encourages the things in one's son/daughter, which one feels is correct.

Unlike what most people think, I don't think coercion or force can be a good parental instrument. In fact, although it is necessary, it only succeeds in isolating one's child from oneself.

The world is not as it was before and we are moving rapidly to different ways of life. It is important to consider this question, and this is indeed what I asked when I asked in my post - Is there a sustainable identity for Tamil Brahmins?

[A Sustainable Identity for Tamil Brahmins