COMPULSORY STAYING AT HOME
Only the homeless know
what a curse it is not to be having a home to live in. According to the Swiss
educationist Johann Pesttalozzi (1746-1827), our home joys are the most
delightful which earth affords, and the joy of parents in their children is the
most holy joy of humanity. It makes
their hearts pure and good, it lifts men up to their Father in heaven.
An American writer Mrs.
Lydia H Sigourney (1791-1865) believes that the strength of a nation,
especially of a republican nation, is in the intelligent and well-ordered homes
of the people.
A modern American
writer and essayist Mrs. Katharina Elizabeth Fullerton Gerould puts her view in
these words: “Hard indeed, in a world which has come to feel that it is more important to have an automobile to get
away from home with, than to have a home which you might like to stay in.
It
is a pity that unlike their ancient counterparts present- day homes and
families lack the spirit of ceaseless bonding and deep urge for togetherness the world over, though to a lesser degree in India which still
follows, here and there, the social values of joint family system.
It
is unfortunate that the old definition of home as the seminary of all other
institutions has considerably cracked, if not fully vanished. An English poet
rightly says: There’s a crack in everything.
The
life style of the younger generation in India started declining during the
British period. Look at this couplet of
a reputed Urdu poet Syed Akbar Hussain, popularly known as Akbar Allahabadi
(1846-1921):
Huey is qadar muhazzab kabhi ghar ka munh na
dekha
Kati umr hotelon mein -, marey hasptaal ja kar
(Alas! Our excessive
passion for civilised life style, detached us so deeply from our homes that we began to dine and dwell
in hotels and breathe our last in
hospitals.)
The compulsory staying
at home during the present lengthy lockdowns because of the killer Corona Virus is a rare phenomenon. It is both
welcome and unwelcome, but is inevitable to ensure our chances of survival.
Home is a sort of
paradise from which we expelled ourselves, partially, if not wholly and can reoccupy
it if we decide to become its regular residents, following that
old moral code which our cultural
heritage imposed upon predecessors. As
for keeping busy, the options are innumerable; so let
there be a happy home-coming.
25th March 2020 G R KANWAL
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