Our culture, our moral values

You want to watch a good film, you have to go to the Information Center of the Indian High Commission, or some ongoing international film festival, or an expatriate friend. All that is left of our cultural heritage is the celebration of some festivals and that, too, is confined to ceremonial celebration of some selected days with Pahela Baishakh (Bengali New Year's Day) topping the list.

If you want to share the pleasures of reading a good book, or talking about one, you will have a hard time finding an enthusiast. Songs and music have also taken a beating. At the peak of it all happens to be pop music and occasional songs of Tagore and Nazrul. The frequent presentations of modern songs, to say the least, are most ordinary and poor, particularly in lyrics. The state of our classical music, both vocal and instrumental, is, to say the least, deplorable.

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Most of the dramas and the cultural programs presented in the electronic media are of the poorest quality and are often dominated by cheap slogans and propaganda. The high point of our dresses appear to be dominated by those loud and obnoxiously expensive lehengas, or shelwar kameez of queer shapes and designs, imported from our big brother India and sold at the so-called shopping malls popping up like mushrooms all over the major cities of the country, including the capital. I wish some one could put a halt to this growing culture of shopping malls. There are yet other aspects of our culture, which we should seriously look into, like consumption of food and material acquisitions of all kinds and nature.

On the moral and ethical fronts, too, there has been unprecedented erosion. We have become extremely arrogant, inconsiderate and intolerant of one another.

Our view of religion has become too narrow. Our faith has become hostage at the hands of the so-called maulanas and moulvis and confined within the four walls of our mosques. The amount of state funds used in building mausoleums today could very well be used in the socio-economic development of the poor through implementation of many benevolent projects. I have always felt that it is better to build a hospital for the sick than a mausoleum for the dead.

We have no respect for others' rights. You see reflections of it on the streets, in the bazaars, in cinema halls, in hospitals, in playgrounds and within the confines of your homes. It is no longer mind over matter. It is all about consumption and acquisition.

Slowly and surely the excesses and crudities of the materialistic world are overtaking the finer elements of our culture. At the forefront of this onslaught on our culture, and cultural values, are the countries of the west with India and Pakistan not far behind. Bangladeshis appear to be most vulnerable to all that is decadent and vulgar.

Gone are the days when there was this element of unspoken respect of the young for the old. Gone are the days when compassion and brotherhood were passwords at all levels of the society. Gone are the days when students regarded their teachers as equals to their parents. Gone are the days when a cup of tea and a good book heightened our finer senses of peace and tranquility. Gone are the days when our acquisitions were strictly by their selective needs. Gone are the days when greed was considered a vice.

Gone are the days when heroism was considered a part and parcel of patriotism.

We consume and acquire more than we need. Too much eating and wasting seem to be a part and parcel of the lifestyle, particularly amongst the affluent section of our society. Today, parents and children of the second and the third generations alike seem to be more excited about the Pizza Huts and Wimpy rather than visits to libraries or museums, or even participating in an outdoor game or watching one. I am often baffled by the chain of restaurants on both sides of the main street running between Gulshan-I and Gulsahn-II. This business of growing obsession with food finds its true expression in these restaurants.

When you are ushered into a living room of a middle class or a well to do family home you are likely to be struck by the ugly sight of pieces of furniture which are highly decorative and often unnecessary. The so-called pieces of home decoration lie around like in a shop selling cosmetic jewelry. No books on shelves in sight. The floors look like those befitting a palace. The feeling is one of awe and decadence.

Talk to a middle class or a well to do educated member of the society belonging to the age group 50 and below about the songs of Pankaj Kumar Mallick, KL Sehgal or sitar and sarod recitals of Ravi Shankar or Amjad Ali Khan, you will be promptly dismissed as old fashioned.

There is also a marked change in the cultural practices of our marriage ceremonies. Today the marriages of our sons and daughters are marred by too many senseless and wasteful ceremonies. Ceremonies are often marked by ugly displays of material affluence by both parties.

The other day I met a childhood friend of mine quite accidentally after years. As we were talking of old times he told me that he had been quite busy for the past two weeks. He was commuting between Dhaka, Dubai and Calcutta making purchases in connection with the forthcoming marriage of his niece. Such is the pitiable state of our culture caused by an all round erosion of our moral and ethical values.

Yet not all is lost. We certainly do have two specific windows of excellence in our cultural arena of which we can rightfully be proud of. These are all time steady growth and development of stage theatre and art and painting. People involved in the theatre movement do deserve our gratitude. The stage theatre movement in Bangladesh is not only a medium of popular entertainment but also has established itself as the voice of the people in our struggle for establishing democracy and rights in the society.

On the other hand, the world of art and painting has undergone revolutionary transformation, making a name both at home and abroad.

Many have often argued with me that this matter of degradation of value systems is a global phenomenon. Many would like to appease me by saying that this is simply a resultant factor in the ongoing generation gap. Having accepted all that, and even more, I say this is something our nation can hardly afford, and there is no room for complacency.

Our health services are non-existent and beset with corruption at all levels, the gap between the rich and the poor is continually increasing, and the backbone of our education has been destroyed, while politics and political management are in complete shambles. It is thus all the more imperative that we put a halt to this erosion of our moral and ethical values before it eats through the vitals of our culture and heritage.

Shamsher Chowdhury is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.