By Zohrah Parveen
The modern technology is the death of our traditional culture. It is true that the latest technology has made our life easier but at the same time, it has ruined our glorious culture. We do not have the idea that our culture is on the way to the end and being destroyed by technologies. Undoubtedly, it is important that we have better understanding of the technology, because we can proceed in this way and can meet the world. This does not mean that we forget our culture. It is truly said that a nation that forgot their culture, the world, will forget the nation. Due to the devastating effects of misuse or excessive use of latest technology, our culture has been affected badly. If one uses that technology in a positive manner, without using excessively or without affecting his social and personal life, he can lead a contended life and our cultural heritage can also be prevented.
With our technological advances in the last decade, we lose the reality of literature and the beauty of the language. We are a computerized predictive society, our advanced technology has created problems with the older generation.. The elderly in our society has observed and experienced everything that had come to their knowledge and practice from their childhood till now. As they had grown, they have witnessed all the changes and ups and downs in the culture and society. The latest technology has pushed the charm and background of our culture far away from our sight. We had a beautiful culture of Chopaal in the villages; People come there in routine and discuss politics, cricket, fights and light conversation of the day. But now this trend has diminished, because people prefer to watch TV at home. Firstly, our relatives who live far away from us eagerly wait for Eid and other traditional festivals to visit at our home and meet with our family and friends. But now a days Whatsapp, Skype and Face book have ended up this waiting period. Facebook, internet and other search engines are also ruing the future of our generation. As our young generation has indulged so much in these activities and they do not pay proper attention to their studies. They remain busy on internet and thus waste their precious time. Even marriages on the Internet are now a trend. Most of the relations made on internet are not durable and end up soon because they are just an attraction. The people tied up in such relationships do not adjust within the family because they have their own priorities. If they are from different culture and society, they do not value the morals and customs of another family. They often end up with clashes, thus separations and divorce occurs.
In the near past, we had a culture of Eid Cards on Eid-ul-fitter. And now we only write a text message for EID and send it to all contacts. Same is the situation with the wedding card culture, these days we invite our friends and relatives by a telephone call. In our family system here is a big change coming through by use of these technologies. We have no time to sit with our family as Europeans do. If we are physically present with them, but still remain busy with our phones, so much that we forget to participate in family matters and conversations. So, mentally we remain absent. As a result, we cut off ourselves from our family system. Parent’s attitude towards their children has also changed; they feel proud when tablets and phones are in the hands of their child rather interesting informative historical books.
Storytelling is a best way to convey our culture generation to generation. We can tell people stories and can tell about our hero. But this culture is being dead due to lack of time, because no one has time to listen the other. Active games that can be played outside of the home are obviously not supported today, but preferred to play games on the computer and so eyesight and other physical problems are increasing day by day..
Excess of everything is bad, because excessive and misuse of latest technology, we are spoiling the beauty of our culture by our own hands. There is no doubt that we have the knowledge of the latest and fast technology but for positive purposes, we should use this technology for productive purposes. Another bad habit of our society is that we feel ashamed off by using our culture due to perception that what other people will say that we are not modern. Each nation has a culture, and they appreciate it then, why do we feel shame and embarrassment? We have an enriched culture, then why we are closing our eyes to the sparkling history, which has brought us so far and made our presence possible as a unique and incredible nation.
Things like this shouldn’t be ignored and we need to be refined. We need balance to be in culture and to use latest technology. What happens to our beautiful culture, if we behave like this? Our cultural values will fade out one day, if we keep on behaving like this. What will we pass on to our next generations? How will they maintain their uniqueness as a nation and their self esteem as a whole? I’m not talking too much, but these questions need to be addressed now before the cloud passes away. It is a crucial time to think because if we do not resolve this issue at present, then , it will useless to cry over spilt milk. We should not ignore this reality that we are going to end our cultural values and morals by excessive and misuse of latest technology. And that is a big threat to us, we should think about it before it’s too late.
* The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Daily The Patriot’s editorial policy.