Shonima Malhotra
Change is the essential and inevitable law of nature. An Ancient Greek Philosopher Heraclitus emphasised on this fact when he quoted, ” It is impossible for any man to step into the same river twice because in the interval of time between the first and second stepping, both the river and man have changed.” The same law of change applies to society also. Society is dynamic in nature. The society of the present is different from the society of the past and the society of the future will certainly be different from the society of the present.
In its journey of change and transition, the Indian society has moved from traditional to modern. Modernisation is understood as a process which involves the adoption of the modern ways of life inclusive of both positive and negative transformations in the external materialistic aspect as well as internal non material aspect of society. As a matter of fact, there is hardly any institution of the society which has remained unaffected by the influence of modernisation.
Family, the basic and universal structure of human society has changed in its structure from joint to nuclear. The size of the family is diminishing from three to four generations to one or two generations. In modern times there is not only a transition from joint(extended) families to nuclear families but another trend is emerging where residentially joint families are being replaced by functionally joint families. Not only this but another change being witnessed in this institution is that some married couples are deciding to remain childless. Even the functions of the family have undergone a change and many functions (like economic, educational, protective, parental etc) being traditionally performed by families have been taken over by some external agencies.
Marriage, another important institution of society, has also been altered in several ways under the impact of modernisation. The forms, purpose, process of mate selection, age, stability, economic aspect of marriage are heading towards a modern trend. The traditional forms of Hindu marriage are no longer in practice. Polygamy has been legally banned among some religious groups. The field and criteria of mate selection have changed. Unlike the traditional times, in the present society, inter caste and inter religious marriages, though not very frequent, are being solemnised and accepted in the society. The criteria of mate selection now a days includes the additional dimensions of education and employment. Marriage has become a status symbol and hence more expensive. Right from the printing of cards to the celebration of different functions a huge amount of money is being spent. The rates of divorce and desertion are on an increase thus influencing the stability of this relation. If modernisation has had a favourable impact on this institution in the sense that Sati system has been abolished and widow remarriages are no more unacceptable, it cannot be denied that it is also accompanied with some upcoming of some negative practices like dowry system, live-in-relationships etc.
The institution of education too has not remained unaffected by the waves of modernisation. Unlike the initial times, when the students were educated at home or being sent to Gurukuls, in the present times formal and professional institutions have been established to impart formal and professional training to the students. No doubt family still educates the child but that education is informal in nature. For receiving formal education the parents need to admit their children in different educational and professional institutions. Not only this but there is a considerable increase in literacy rates too. Though comparatively less but the literacy rates have improved for girls too.
Another institution which we can talk of here is economic institution. No doubt as in the past, similarly presently also human beings are incessantly engaged in varied economic pursuits and activities but surely with a difference. After the industrial revolution the centre of productions have shifted from homes and families to factories and industries. Manual power has, too a large extent, been replaced by mechanical power in both agricultural and industrial sectors. As aptly stated by famous French sociologist Emile Durkheim, the society has moved from a stage having no or less division of labour to a stage having high degree of division of labour and specialisation and mechanical solidarity being replaced by organic solidarity. To add further, in the present scenario, not only the males but even the females are employed in different sectors. I can quote no better example than of my own self here. Today I am writing this article as an assistant professor which itself is an indication of the point that I have stated above.
Society has modernised to a considerable extent in technological sector too and this can be witnessed in almost all the sectors of the society – family, educational, economic, medical, religious etc. In all these fields, latest technology is being vastly used. There are ample examples to support this point. The society has moved from a stage where people used to travel on foot to a stage where they can cover huge distances in no time, from a stage where they had to stand in big queues for booking of tickets, payment of bills, shopping etc. to a stage where everything can be done by just clicking a button, from a stage where books were the only sources of imparting and receiving education to a stage where people of different professions and ages can impart and receive education through the use of smart technology. Even many more examples can be quoted. But the disappointing aspect of this change is that if on one side, technology is contributing constructively towards the development of society, on the other hand it is also having a destructive impact by giving way to many health related problems (both physical and psychological), inter personal relational problems, anti – social and criminal activities ( as can be witnessed in the form of cyber crimes).
It is further felt that the advent of modernism and modern civilisation has affected religion, its functions and religiosity of people. The growing trend towards secularisation is a clear reflection of this. Traditional religious beliefs and superstitions are losing their dominance. The declining impact of caste system is an example of this. It is good that rationality and logic are becoming prominent and over powering traditional religious explanation of every phenomenon but it is not acceptable to totally ignore the importance and value of religion. To be true this is what is happening in present day society. Present generation people hardly know the significance and sanctity of different rituals and festivals. They have enough time to get engage with social media networks but they don’t have time for prayers and worship.
Another disappointing and disheartening effect of modernisation is on the morality and moral values of the people. Gone are the days when the phrases like, ‘Honesty is the best policy’ were popular. Materialistic approach and corruption have become the trend of the day. The instances of children like Shravan Kumar carrying his blind parents to pilgrimage are things of the past. Now are the cases of children considering their parents to be a burden, taking care of them when they grow old and rather and throwing them to old age homes. The movies like Bhagwaan are supportive of this change.
To conclude I would say that the journey of Indian society from traditionalism towards modernisation has two facets- positive as well as negative or good as well as bad. No doubt the ideas and thinking of the people have been changed for better in several ways as in case of caste system, approach towards acceptance of females – their education and employment, shedding of superstitions, adoption of family planning measures etc. but we cannot ignore the gloomy and unfavourable side of modernisation. So to maintain the society worth living in , we need to revive back the essential and worth following traditions of the past while moving ahead on the road towards modernisation. There is an imperative need to maintain this balance .
(The author is Assistant Professor of Sociology GDC Sidhra)
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