*W* * * *hat lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us,' said Oliver Wendell Holmes.* **
** *I strongly believe that unless we value the values which are within us we shall go on the path of decay and decadence. To prove my point let me begin by giving examples from modern times. * * * *More than two decades ago a gawky young Hyderabadi went to **England** to represent his country in test cricket. He scored not one, not two but three centuries on debut and conquered the conquerors in their own land. Yes, you have guessed it right – Mohammed Azharuddin. His wristy genius and incredible knowledge of the nuances of the game of cricket made him one of the greatest achievers of his generation. What he couldn't have imagined even in the wildest of dreams was all his. He practically had the world at his feet. But then, he made one blunder. In his lust for more he forgot the difference between the right and wrong and his world came crashing down. Today his name is an anathema. Those who swore by him, now swear at him. * * Now-a-days we have many instances of kids from rich homes indulging in every imaginable crime because they probably don't know what to do with their time. Even slight provocations like refusal of a drink, camaraderie which doesn't suit can lead to young lives being snuffed out in the most brutal manner possible. I'm talking about Manoj Sharma and Vikas Yadav whose fragile male ego and protection of parents who were stinking rich gave them the license to kill. Then there is the case of poor little Rahul Mahajan, the depressed and lonely son of Pramod Mahajan. The death of his father so shattered Rahul baba that he had no other option but to use 500 rupee notes to snort cocaine. In the process if his friend got annihilated so what? That was a small price to pay for dissipating the moody blues which Rahul baba was suffering from. Salman Khan is another example of how Page 3 goondaism is now becoming fashionable. Killing a chinkara here, a few pavement dwellers there and roughing up his fellow actors seems to have added to his charisma and popularity.* * The rave parties in Pune where young boys and girls were caught doing drugs and lots more, the intellectual giants in St. Stephen's who under the influence of alcohol badly scarred their junior and the scions of the rich and famous I have already mentioned epitomize the decay that is all pervasive among the wealthy today. We have numerous examples of politicians, bureaucrats, scientists and research scholars who have amassed wealth. But this wealth instead of giving them satisfaction has resulted in moral decay making them lust for more. * * I feel we as a society have forsaken all the values which our part of our glorious culture and heritage. Earlier a person who sacrificed was a considered a big man to be respected and revered. But in the present time of corporate takeovers the person who accumulates is the modern messiah and his simple mantra is that the end is important, not the means. In the age of sabse bada rupaiah and apna sapna money, money, greed rocks. Naturally values get the short shrift. Among the rich today new mores have become fashionable – values inspired by the richest and greedy. "Knowledge enables a man to realize that he is the soul with a body. Now, in his ignorance he thinks that he is a body with a soul," said the great poet and philosopher – Emerson.* *We have to go back to our values and our ethos. We have to imbibe the credo of sharing and caring not hoarding and hogging. We have to go back to the realization that weare bodies with souls. Radhakrishnan once said, "We have learnt to race in the waters, we have learnt to fly in the air but alas we have not yet learnt to walk on this earth." Dear readers instead hoarding wealth let us aggregate values, instead of running after lucre let us pursue wisdom. Then and only then shall be we be able to truly walk on the earth with peace in our minds, love in our hearts and dignity in our souls. *
