Lost in Translation

           Recently I stumbled upon an old song kind of accidentally. Why may not be important here. What it provoked in me is more important. The song is an old song from the movie " Poorab aur Paschim", sung by Mr. Mahendra Kapoor. The name of the song is "Hai preet jahaan ki reet sada" the song talks about the various cultural contributions of India as a country, among other things. Most of us must have heard this song I guess. The song has been filmed in the era of '70s. Well I havent seen those times but if there is any truth in the lyrics, it must have been a great time. 

In the last 30 years, India has had its ups and downs, but despite all odds it has shone brightly on the global stage and I am pretty proud of that fact. But, there is a stark difference in the India today and the India that Manoj Kumar talks about on screen in the song. This stark difference makes me ask myself one question. 
"At what price have we attained this globalization?"

Has the price of all this achievement been our values all along? In a bid to be industrialised have we been working towards an insensitive society? Now, when the west has started looking towards east seeking answers, are we still staring at the west for their approval? Are we loosing our values in trying to translate the western society. We all need to ask ourselves these questions some day or the other.
I ask myself this and I get to a conclusion that maybe this is Collateral damage. But then, another question pops up in my mind. 
"Is it worth it?"

The song goes on to say:
"Kuchh aur na aata ho humko, humain pyar nibhana aata hai"

Do we really remember 'Pyar nibhana?' in its literal self?
Have we become so modern and practical that these things dont matter to us anymore? Last but not the least, where does this end?
Does this end in us, the people of India who were proud of the fact that "Jeete hon kisi ne desh to kya Humne to dilon ko jeeta hai" becoming rich, insensitive barbarians who dont care about the pain we cause our fellow human beings intentionally or un-intentionally?

In my opinion, those will be sad and dark times and while this generation might not be alive to see it, our future generations will be. Is this the legacy that we plan to leave for them? I believe just a little compassion by each one of us may avert it, but that has to be a collective effort to make a real difference in a country like ours. 

India might not become the 'Sone ki Chidiya' that it was, but it might just regain the lost legacy of Hai preet jahaan ki reet sada and the next generation may proudly say 

"Is dharti pe maine janam liya
Ye soch k main itrata hun"

That in my opinion will be the true win and the legacy that I would want to leave for my children.

Peace.