JOIN USIt is a fact that human behaviour, habits and social behaviour always alter according to the venue, circumstances and other basic needs. Hence, it will be highly unfair to determine whether an individual, community or race isright or wrong, on the basis of what we consider to be correct.
For instance, people who went hunting in the past and dared the feral aspects of wilderness and triumphed over a carcass of a dead feline or an elephant were celebrated as heroes of sorts.
Nevertheless, if someone were to copy the feat today, he or she is likely to be booked by the law for perpetrating a serious offence. For those of you who think that citing an example that spans across ages is obsolete, let us examine a real time reality.
In certain countries it is considered highly sinful for a woman to even get her clothes tailored by a male sartorial professional. On the other hand there are countries that encourage sunbathing with minimal or no clothing to its people to ward off hazards like melanoma.
The two cases have been cited to clarify that most aspects of human life are variables. What we eat or wear, how we speak or function, the language and the culture and the habits that we adopt among millions of other such trivia can vary from place to place or time to time. One cannot really fault or eulogise them because, we as a society figure out the best practices that will work for us as a unit.
Change in culture
Once we find the practices redundant, we have the knack of shedding them entirely or very simply salvage the core value of the custom and reinvent the same to suit our needs. Right from Paleolithic times, man has realised the need for food, clothing and shelter and he has worked on his necessities and come up with practical and economical solutions that can cater to him at the given point of time.
The food that was cooked using fire is now processed through a plethora of new age equipments. The animal skins and barks that constituted our clothing have come a long way now, as they come in a spectrum of colours, materials and designs.
Caves that sheltered man through the vagaries of nature have given way to varied housing from chalets to skyscrapers and everything in between. Everything else that we use or possess happens to be ancillaries to our basic needs. Therefore, mankind as a race must realise that there is really no point in nitpicking, categorising or even on contemplating on sticking on to anything at all.
It is mandatory to remember that the only constant is change. Besides, are we not constantly reinventing the proverbial wheel by working out solutions to the same requirements?
Physics and mathematics explain the conceptual difference between variables and constants and the subtle but irrevocable relationship between the two factors. One cannot exist or function without another.
To put it more simply, we need a constant to evaluate the variable. So also, in life we need constants and variables. We must understand that constants remain invariable across time and space whereas variables always undergo modifications.
It is interesting to note that science, religion, psychology and psychiatry have surprisingly come up with a constant — Truth. The truth they speak of does not subscribe to any region, religion, cult or culture. It is a human truth that is woven around integrity, responsibility, reliability and intrinsic goodness punctuated with a generous dollop of compassion.
The person who adheres to this kind of truth need not feel obligated or answerable to anyone except his own conscience. And as the bard said, if one is true to oneself, the night shall follow the day.
The ability to go through life as an onlooker without getting involved or critical about matters that do not concern us or understand will make it happier, simpler and straightforward. But, as they say, “It is simple to be happy but very difficult to be simple.”
Truth can never become outdated because we need the north star to navigate through the sea of life.
If each one of us strives to sort out and differentiate between variables and constants, we will find ourselves becoming less and less judgemental. Bonhomie and harmony will seep through seamlessly through the newfound maturity and make the world a better place to live in.