Essay: Is Modern Life Making Children Unhappy?

There is a growing consensus that modern childhood today is in a somewhat parlous state. Experts world over contend that the fast-moving, hyper-competitive modern society is damaging children mentally and emotionally. Growing children confront the tyranny of consumer and moral choice. The society at large, however, appears to be ambivalent on the issue. “Our children are in danger, fattened on fast food, corrupted by commerce, traumatized by testing. And, other children are dangerous…., chaotic in the classroom, bestial in the bedroom”, according to an analyst.

We need to look hard into the changing consumerist environment that surrounds the growing child today. The electronic media is held as a corrupting influence on modern childhood. We cannot ignore the fact that the imaginative life of children is full of violence. A visit to a playground any time will uphold this perception. But the adult world’s concerns generally are about the proliferation of technology, particularly in the home, and the challenge to adult authority that it represents.

Surely, children’s access to media, and the prevalence of sex and violence in such media, has vastly increased. Research has been documenting for years the nexus between electronic media and a medley of developmental horrors. Though some analysts believe that these studies are flawed in as much as they take violence as an objective category and fail to investigate what audiences themselves define as violent.

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Advertising: The Brandwagon Story

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Just imagine: if one was to go to a store to buy tooth paste, soap, oil, shampoo, computer, refrigerator—all covered in drab white or brown paper reading only just as much! No idea of richness and exclusivity backing them, no appeals working on the mind. The result would be no more desire to buy something exceptional, no more hankering for a great shopping experience, no more retail therapy for the parched souls! And subsequently, limited sales, slumped markets and extremely dejected entrepreneurs. This is what an un-exciting, un-informed world would be like if there were no branding, no advertising—the two processes that work on the minds quite invisibly and lead us to the stores wanting this fairness crème or that exquisite watch even if there is no need for the same.

Advertising has played a major role in consumer marketing, and has enabled companies to meet communication and other marketing objectives. Typically, advertising is used to inform, persuade, and remind consumers. It importantly reinforces their attitudes and perceptions. Advertising has been a target of criticism for decades, as also been hailed as a capitalistic virtue, an engine of free market economy, a promoter of consumer welfare.

To begin with, an advertisement is in fact a public announcement with the avowed purpose not so much to inform as to coax the public into buying a product, subscribing to a service or accepting an idea. The origins of advertising can be traced to the times when the services of the town crier were used to convey the messages to people. The messages could be a rulers proclamations or information about the market days.

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Time Management

Rakesh is a senior executive in a top firm, eminently qualified for his job. He is ambitious and does not easily trust his subordinates, afraid of being let down by them. He, therefore, tries to do everything himself and is left with little time to think over larger issues. He remains immersed in files and carries work home. The last time he took the family for an outing appears to be years ago.

Shiv, also in a senior position in the same firm, heads another department. However, the ambience here is different. Everyone goes about his job with a song on his lips and Shiv is always at hand, easily accessible to anyone. He packs for home on time and frequents the golf course in the afternoon. Holidays with the family help him to unwind further, which brings in added zip to his job.

What essentially is the difference between these two executives?

Most people seldom have enough time to do all the things they want to do. They have to work late in the offices, carry papers home for disposal and spend all their energy in the drudgery of daily routine. They have, therefore, no time to plan and execute jobs requiring their personal attention. Nor do they have adequate time for self-development. One’s control over time is directly related to the hierarchical position one holds in an organization.

Of all the resources—human, material, financial and the like—time is the scarcest. It is rightly said that time is money. An executive earning Rs 40,000 per month has his time cost him Rs. 1,818 per day and Rs 227 per hour. This works out to Rs four every minute of his working time, including lunch and coffee breaks. Time must, therefore, be utilized with utmost care and on a priority basis. In the competitive environment prevailing in all spheres of life, the one who manages his time effectively will have the cutting edge.

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Essay: Multinationalism and Democracy

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When we speak of a country or State, we assume that it has only one nation. In fact, in some languages, the country implies nation. Thus, when we say Hindusthani, literally it would mean the one who belongs to the country called Hindusthan. But, rare are the countries that contain only one race of people or have a completely homogeneous populations.

In a democratic country or State, the ‘diverse population’ phenomenon assumes a multifarious significance. The relationship between demography and democracy is becoming politically important. After the collapse of the Soviet
Union, borders of every country are softening and migration, legal or illegal, is going on apace. The Majority’s will as the deciding principle in a democracy is becoming ambiguous.

Minorities are becoming highly visible and vocal and gaining special rights. Multinationalism was a distinctive feature
of the USSR and Yugoslavia that were not considered democratic States. They were not liberal democracies, any way. Currently, the question of multinationalism has to be discussed within the context of liberal democracy.

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Explore and realise your potential

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If you have ever been dubbed dull, you are in illustrious company. Albert Einstein was so slow-minded that his father feared he might be feeble-minded. Thomas Alva Edison’s teacher complained that he couldn’t keep up with his classmates. Since then historians have said of Edison. “His brain had the highest cash value in history.”

What have the late Thomas Edison and the late Albert Einstein to do with you? They were brighter than their elders first thought! There are late bloomers. There are dazzling dunces. Many intelligent men and women underestimate their own intelligence. There is a very good reason for this.

According to Professor J.P. Guillord of the University of Southern California, about forty mental dimensions or factors have so far been mapped out. Among them are: judgement, foresight, ability to visualise, to express ideas verbally, and to comprehend what is said. Any one is aware of the fact that he doesn’t shine in all forty or more mental factors. He finds some intellectual tasks difficult. For instance, a person may write good English. But when he tries to figure out his sums, he is confused.

Another man who is excellent at mathematics, but his mind goes completely blank if he’s asked to say a few words about any subject. He does not know how to communicate his ideas. Often, you are so worried about the fact that there are two or three intellectual tasks you cannot handle well that you forget that there may be thirty-seven or thirty-eight mental dimensions in which you can shine. Even the mediocre man is brighter than he is usually given credit for being.

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