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The Family and The Nation, Acharya Mahapragya and APJ Abdul Kalam, HarperCollins, pp 213, Rs 250.00
By Dr Ravindra Nath Pal
Many philosophers have expressed their views on the basis of history that Indian culture is the best in the world. Family is the primary unit of the society where a man and his wife lives with co-operation and sacrifice for its unity. Indian society is based on love, affection and sanskaras given in the family. The family is not knit because of economic dependency, but based on love and sacrifice.
For the growth of nationalism proper social and cultural awakening is essential in the society.
Much has been expressed by the philosophers about the differences between the crowd and the civilised society. Many philosophers feel that civilised society came into existence by force though a few others attributed it to 'Divine Will' or 'Social Contract' but none of these theories have any logic in them. Due to this very reason none of the above theories have been accepted. The human nature, co-operation, selflessness and self sacrifice, which is an important part of human life have not been expressed in any way in these theories. Society is considered civilised when it has certain basic norms and which are acceptable for a long time without any obstruction. A civilised society has always a political system to regulate the life of the individual. It may be in the shape of monarchy, aristocracy or democracy. Since the ancient times India has experienced all the above forms of governments. Democracy is not new to India, it may be new to the other countries of the world.
No country can reach cultural heights if the 'family' is not properly knit. Family must be based on love and affection which is connected with sacrifice, selflessness, faith on each other and responsibility. This unity of society brings clan and tribe together which ultimately gives a natural growth to 'Nation'.
The present work has been accomplished on the basis of history. The various small states merging into a 'Rashtra' at the time of Chander Gupta Maurya has been depicted. The role of Buddhism and Jainism, the Lachhvi tribes and value system has been expressed. Man, as the integral part of family deals with issues like natural acceptance of laws, love, faith, the desire to unite, honesty, boldness and changes negative emotional issues like anger, temporary jealousy, compromise for greed, fear, violence into positive ones, are the highlights of this work. The book suggests the methods to deal with emotions like anger and jealousy. The relationship of man with his wife on the basis of sanskaras has been well expressed. The book suggests excellent methods of having a good life and national glory. The efforts which have been put by the writers are praiseworthy and can be useful to the society as a whole.
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