THE FORCE OF HABIT

         A habit once formed in hard to give up. It becomes a part of our personality and makeup. For example, a person who has the habit of smoking or drinking or gambling finds it almost impossible to give it up. It also applies to such undesirable habits as chewing our nails, picking the nose or be for ever fidgeting while talking or backbiting. They are a lot on our character. We should try to keep away from them if we wish to impress others in our day-to-day life. We should try to develop good habits right from our childhood so that we can keep them with us for the rest of our lives.

         One of the habits we should develop is that cleanliness and hygiene. A neat and tidy appearance is an asset. It will stand us in good stead for the rest of our life. One need not be rich or well-to-do to appear clean and wholesome. It is just a matter of habit that can be learnt from one’s elders, teachers and parents.        

         We must develop such habits as conform with accepted social norms as appearing cheerful and confident when we interact with others. We should not discuss our problems before outsiders when we meet them for the first time as they are likely to make fun of us and from a poor impression. On our part, we should not look down upon others who have developed this habit.

         Tolerance of others’ viewpoint is another desirable habit. Just as a coin has two sides, every issue has its pros and cons. We should not appear to be irritated when others say or do something that is not our liking. If we develop the habit of tolerance, it will stay with us.

          If we are ever willing to help others and cooperate with them from the early stages of our life, it becomes a habit with us. We are forced to help people whenever they are in trouble or are passing through difficult times. And this force of habit pays us rich dividends in life.

         It is, therefore, essential that we develop good habits so that we follow them unconsciously all through our life. The force of habit will compel us to act in ways that will be beneficial to us and be a source of pleasure and comfort to others.

THE PROBLEM OF UNEMPLOYMENT

        Among the problems facing India today unemployment is a major problem. There are millions on the live registers of employment exchanges throughout the country. And every year, lakhs of highly qualified and trained people join them with no hope of finding jobs suiting their skills and talents. The situation is equally grim in the rural areas where there is under-employment as well.

         One of the reasons of growing unemployment is that opportunities for higher education are available to one and all. Most students follow the herd mentality in choosing their careers. After medicine and engineering, the present trend is towards management and information technology. This will soon reach a saturation point with lakhs of similarly educated young men and women without jobs. This can be prevented when students are given options suiting their skills and aptitude after the plus-two examination. Fortunately, a beginning has been made in this direction recently and now a wide variety of career options are available to the school- leavers.

         Population is another cause for growing unemployment in the country. The available resources and employment opportunities have not been able to keep pace with the growing numbers. As a result, population control is essential to tackle the problem of unemployment.

        The youth in the countryside are under-employed because of the seasonal nature of jobs in agriculture. Another reason is their liking for white-collar jobs. They do not like to do any manual work. For this, they must be taught the dignity of labor and they must learn that no job is below them. The rural youth must learn the traditional handicrafts and take pride in cottage industries to keep themselves gainfully employed throughout the year. If small-scale industries are set up in the countryside, the youth will have no reason to migrate in large numbers to the cities in search of white- collar or other jobs. They would like to remain close to their native place if they are suitably employed there.

        The problem of unemployment gives rise to social unrest and violence. When the youth fail to get employment, they take to the streets and hold protests and demonstrations. Such protests and demonstrations often turn violent and disturb the normal life of other citizens. This can be avoided by imparting vocational education to our students in schools and colleges so that they act as responsible citizens when they pass out. Vocational education will go a long way in solving the problem of unemployment in the country.

THE PROBLEM OF DOWRY

        Even after nearly six decades of independence, India is faced with such serious problems as population explosion, poverty, illiteracy, ill-health and unemployment as well as the social evil of dowry. The problem of dowry has assumed menacing proportions in recent times with the result that it claims hundreds of innocent lives each year. It has also given rise to the rampant female feticide and prostitution because the girl child is looked up by parents as a burden and curse from God because most parents cannot afford to give dowry in marriage. They are unable to meet the ever- rising demands of the bridegroom and his parents.

         As a social custom, dowry has existed in India from time immemorial. But in the past it used to be given on voluntary basis as the share of the daughter in ancestral property. But over the years, it has been demanded as a right by the bridegroom and his parents as the price for bringing the bride into their family. The parents of the bride are forced to give into the exorbitant demands of dowry at the time of marriage and thereafter. If their unreasonable demands are not met, the bride is often subjected to harassment and torture. Many young women commit suicide while others return to their parents because of this rampant social evil.

         The government has enacted laws to prevent the demanding and giving of dowry. But such laws are often ignored at the time of solemnizing a marriage because the girl’s parents are anxious to get a bridegroom of their choice and have to pay heavily for it. They have to beg or borrow or even sell off their assets to meet the demands of the bridegroom and his parents. Many social and welfare organizations have also been working for the eradication of this social evil, but with little success. Many educated young men and women have vowed not to accept or give dowry in marriage. But this social evil persists on a large scale among all communities in the country. This has led to the unethical and immoral practice of determining the sex of the unborn child and female feticide in many parts of the country, thus disturbing the male-female ratio which stands at 930 females per1000 males in the country at present. This has also led to prostitution among young women whose poor parents cannot afford to give them dowry in marriage. The problem of dowry has thus led to many other social evils in the country.  

       Such deep-rooted socials evils are not easy to eradicate. Only proper education and awareness among the youth can help us minimize the problem of dowry in the years to come as all the order measures to stamp it out have failed so far.