The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘Time can’t wither family values’

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Thursday, Jul 24, 2008
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New Delhi

‘Time can’t wither family values’

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: “Change is in fact the law of nature, but when change occurs in value systems that uproots not just individuals but generations, the degeneration of old values begin,” said Pallavi Rajaram, a Class XI student of Springdales School Dhaula Kuan, while speaking at an inter-school elocution competition for the Dandi March Rolling Trophy organised by Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti at its premises here on Tuesday.

Speaking on “Whither Indian Family Values?” Pallavi said: “In our drive for a change, we are not realising whether we are changing for the better or for the worse. Values change over time but before defying traditional family values and norms it is wise to question the need for change and to specify what values need to change – certainly not at the cost of bringing tears to our elders’ eyes and throwing them out of their homes that belonged to them, built, nurtured and caressed by them.”

Pallavi was awarded the Dandi March Rolling Trophy for 2008 by Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti director Savita Singh.The competition was so close that there was a tie between two students for both the second and third prizes. Pupul Bisht, a Class XI student of Birla Vidya Niketan Pushp Vihar, and Smriti who studies in Class XII at Apeejay School Noida, won the second prize. The third prize was shared by Saloni Aggarwal, a Class X student of Air Force Bal Bharti Public School Lodhi Road, and Shruntanjaya Bhardwaj, a Class IX student of Delhi Public School Dwarka.

Speaking at the elocution competition, Pupul Bisht said: “Today our family life is being affected as we are fast losing the old values, and we haven’t been able to decide on the new ones.”

Taking a dig at both parents and entertainment media, Pupul said: “Parents today are more concerned about making their children trendy by giving them costly cellular phones, i-pods and computers, instead of imbibing in them some moral values that are the basic foundations of the family. The situation has worsened so much that it seems urban families are being run by big corporate houses that sell us greeting cards to express how much we love our parents on Father’s or Mother’s Day – the only one day when we find time to buy a card to show how much we love them!”

Pupul underlined the need to re-build the concept of “Bahujana Sukhaya Bahujana Hitaya” (Happiness to majority, good to majority) and instil values in the family system that would prevent youngsters from going astray from the path of righteousness.

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