We live in a society torn between wanting to live a decent life, ethically engaging in an income and a never ending race in keeping the home fires burning; but the external and internal influences have drastically split the entire social cocoon that was once very nuclear. Traditions, rituals and customs no more are respected as they were, but many new trends has come to nestle in the lives of many people, once content in merely growing their own food engaging in household chores and socializing with family, neighbours during traditional festivals.
With the population increasing the existing resources and services were not adequate to cater to the growing demands and changing trends that kept creeping into placid village lives. Came the Industrial age, the want to produce more at speed, the need to make life easier became the norm. Traditional livelihoods such as farming, fishing did not seem promising any more to the youth who grew up during this time. Migration to West Asia, Europe and other developed nations opened doors to look at the world through a different lens. Those who left Sri Lankan shores, definitely wanted to be a part of that fast paced life where in the name of development everything in life gradually turned either instant or automated. Caught up in all the fancy gimmicks in broadcast and visual media streams, with the want to be more socially acceptable, knowingly or unknowingly the cultural upbringing within the humble walls of the mud hut back home faded away.
On returning home, flaunting their new found success induced the others in wanting a share of that glory and in turn, increased numbers did follow suit. Youth from socially and economically hampered families migrated to cash in on a faster route to success looking for bigger dreams. Within the country as well, more youth were migrating to the big cities looking out for a better way out to uplift their socio economy status. The increase in needs, demands and the income from farming, fishing was now barely sufficient to supplement the rising costs of living. The transformation in the villages although was not rapidly become a clutter unlike in the villages was gradually changing.
This switch-over also bred a different cultural norm where a sudden burst of freedom was experienced among youth who had migrated from the sleepy hamlets to the big cities. Socializing with city youth cultivating more exciting ways to spending leisure and experimenting with the fancy pomp shown over films and soap operas, dramas, commercial advertisements on TV routed their mindset in a different direction. This is not to disregard the fact that being naturally human the chances are always high to be drawn towards many of the social vices lying around, waiting to prey on potential customers.
Village youth who were not accustomed to handling money now were recipients of a monthly pay cheque through the jobs they were able to secure at factories of commercial companies. The outcome was the simple village youth who may had only smoked a beedi or secretly indulged in locally brewed liquor once in a while now had more chances of doing this often while getting sadistic lessons from phonographic films freely available at the countless dvd stores in the city. The giggling village lass who relied on informal messages or the postman to bring in a hand written letter from her secret admirer now was more daring to spend hours locked away in intimate pleasure with whoever she fancied. The new found money coupled with freedom and no adults watching over them the world was theirs!
The men and women in the conflict affected districts of the country had a different twist to this concoction. Having to flee from their homes and being displaced multiple times in open welfare camps brought in a lot of unwanted add on’s to their lives – especially for women who were used to living a sheltered life, accompanied by their parents, brothers, husbands had their privacy curtailed. They were housed in tents or open areas with other countless unknown men and women. For the men and women now freely moving about in open spaces inside the camp, it was temptation freely hovering applying the brakes to their matrimonial vows. For the single men and women the options to find either short term pleasure or long term commitment was infinite. On top of this the young girls and boys blooming into adolescence were free to experiment and explore new worlds sometimes with consent and other times without. All a tangled mess in which everyone chose their own style only to repent on choices made later on.
Within a changing atmosphere amidst a conflict, the new found freedom and easy access to indulging in whatever took their fancy was a unique experience taking them to a different world. Some got lost, some trapped and others in the name of pleasure got abused. Repercussions felt, regrets made, dreams crashed…lives changed…BUT by this time the damage done, if any was not reversible!
Once more this is not to point fingers and cover up for the horrendous acts of abuse and violence committed but to elaborate how the social outlook can change lives to an extent, driving social activists to governments in formulating policies, acts, regulations and setting up mechanisms to combat the alarming levels of abuse/violence within the community. Of course the aforesaid changes elaborated, may not be the sole reasons for these in human acts but need to analyze in depth as to what the attributing reasons remain unresolved.
there are international days for every blessed thing on this planet but isn't it time the spades dig deeper to discover what has actually lead to all the reasons to have these special days - only limited to charity bands and big talk ?
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