FOURTH ZONE

 

 

P RESIDENT Mrs. Droupadi Murmu was absolutely candid that India was fully ready to face the challenges of the current -- fourth -- industrial revolution and avail all opportunities of growth. This confidence stems from the robust manner in which the country has prepared itself in the past decade to take the fullest possible advantage of the opportunities the fourth industrial revolution will bring in its trajectory. This fourth zone has all futuristic trappings and will extract every grain of the country’s intellectual prowess to tackle the challenges. Thanks to the advances in modern education, India appears geared up to make the best use of the opportunities available in the near and far future -- a confidence that emerged from the President’s recent speech at a university. What needs to be noted most critically at this stage, however, is that the new challenges of the fourth industrial revolution will not be restricted only to the field of latest technologies, but also expand their footprint to sociological domain -- in the sense the success of the country will depend upon how the larger society handles itself as it faces the challenges. For, enough signs are available in the societal space that in the quest of modern ways, Indian society is seemingly straying away from the core principles that it has cherished for countless centuries -- such as the primacy of family institution, honest and confident adherence to middle-class values, deep, unshakable faith in India’s history, tradition and culture ... !

 

Enough hints are available from the societal space that Indian youth is somehow growing ignorant about all those substantial principles that have held the larger Indian society together through centuries of political and spiritual invasions. If these signs as seen and sensed by a few thinkers and observers have any truth in them, then the larger Indian society has much to worry about in the near and far future. With that kind of a societal profile, India may not be able to achieve good buoyancy in its national character and may get dragged along the flow of so-called modern social method and manner in so-called tune with the way the Western world conducts itself. India will have to develop this awareness with much focus in the times to come -- and redefine its ways and means so that the new Indian society does not stray from its age-old ideals. This word of caution is necessary at this stage simply because when the country moves deeper into the fourth zone of industrial revolution, the young generations will be the Indian society’s mainstay -- as has been the case always in any country.

 

At least currently, there is a growing apprehension in thinking sections of the Indian society that the current young generations are getting sucked into wrong lanes of thought and action -- that is devoid of much depth and thought and prayer. Signs indicate that this will be a major social affliction that India will have to face in the near future even as it gears up to meet the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution . It is against this background possibility that we have to consider the confidence of President Mrs. Droupadi Murmu about the country’s readiness to meet new challenges of the fourth industrial revolution. The challenge, as we have seen, will be in the field of sociology rather than of technology. India will never lag behind on the technological front, all right. But it should also ensure that it does not lag behind in the spiritual domain and lose its grip on the collective character of a civilised society that does not lose its character and traditional values even if it remains on the forefront of technology. This is rather a complex challenge -- and India of tomorrow will have to be ready to tackle that