Our cultural values are left at the mercy of swift changes as the younger generations, including male and female, show great tendency towards modern styles. The moral standards and social norms are on the verge of decadence. The past virtue remains nostalgia of the present and the former spirituality has left a deep vacuum in social life. The male sacredness and female chastity are lacking in the community.
Whenever I walk on the street in capital city of Kabul, the girls’ colorful dresses make me think of fashion show or wedding ceremony. Similarly, the boys’ clothing remind me of Hollywood actors. However, a number of women used to wear dark-blue burqa (a meshy veil) about a decade ago and long clothes were customary for men.
After all, there seems to be a competition among the them. It is believed that scores of girls present in the updated fashion, irrespective of their fathers’ blistered hands and profuse sweating, to outweigh the others. Likewise, the stylish girls are used in advertising gimmicks to lure more customers and in artistic and musical programs to magnetize more viewers. In a nutshell, feminine beauty and dignity are used for self-interests and banal goals. It should be noted that “Femininity is not just lipstick, stylish hairdos, and trendy clothes. It is the divine adornment of humanity. It finds expression in your qualities of your capacity to love, your spirituality, delicacy, radiance, sensitivity, creativity, charm, graciousness, gentleness, dignity, and quiet strength.”
In some remote areas, however, men dress in long garments and turbans and women wear burqa concealing their faces from non-chaperones to protect the cultural values which held sway during their forefathers. But their mindsets did not change either. They show inclination towards extreme traditionalism and this group would be more perilous than the first one.
We live in imbalanced society and people’s movement towards two opposite directions namely secularism and traditionalism imperil the society culturally and politically. It is believed that the armed militants who rebel against the status quo are born from the heart of extreme traditionalism. They show religious intolerance and resort to arms under the title of “corruption of blood”. Their traditional worldview justifies them to spill the blood of their compatriots who have embraced modern style. They maximize their realm of authority and will finally succumb to the ideology of the hardliners. We live in imbalanced society from one more perspective. One resides in skyscraper regardless of his/her neighbors whose faces are pale with hunger. There are some who lay their heads on bricks in the chilling weather. They do not melt the hearts of licentious passersby but of those who bear, at least, a tinge of humanity. They are frozen to the bone, resist coldness and hunger and fight for their life. The charitable culture, generosity and Prophet’s Sunnah are fading away. One hardly ever feels the pain and sufferings of their human fellows.
Historically, Afghanistan used to be the hotbed of great thinkers and it is the birthplace of prominent personalities. People cherished religious values to a great extent and practiced high moral standards. Therefore, they lived a peaceful life and treated one another as brethren. Their selfless acts of generosity, humanity and divine virtue created a quiet atmosphere. They were not inattentive of their ailing neighbors. They neither spilt the blood of their compatriots on the grounds of their cast, creed or color nor violated their rights and dignity for their self-interests. Isn’t it nostalgia for the present?
Charlie Chaplin, a British comedy actor, who is highly famous in the history of Hollywood, writes a piece of fatherly advice to his actress daughter Zheraldin. He writes, “Your job is very difficult. I know that. Your body is covered only with a piece of silk. Because art can and will appear naked on stage, but to come back from there in wearing and cleaner … But nothing and no one else in this world deserves to see even the nails of the feet of a girl. Nakedness is a disease of our time. I am old and my words might sound funny. But me, your naked body must belong to one who loves face your soul.”
Chaplin’s letter carries great moral messages – to be practiced upon chiefly by the girls of our era. Our actresses should know that they can keep their morality safe not only on the streets but also on theatrical stages. Those who live in the world of music and dances must not forget the pains and sufferings of the actors and actresses who dance or sing with hungry stomachs. Neither do the occupants of luxury apartments forget their poor neighbors who sleep with empty stomachs in mud-built houses. Let’s live in the world of humanity and do not forget moral practices and keep our culture safe from erosion.