By Anirudh Rao:
The first thing that the word ‘addiction’ brings to our mind is drugs. The medical dictionary says, ‘Addiction is a persistent, compulsive dependence on a behavior or substance’. We always view things with a very narrow outlook. A person can be addicted in many different ways. It ranges from addiction to food to addiction to online games, internet, television etc.The list is endless. I have been fascinated to know about some of the forms of addiction and I will let this article focus on three of them.
Technology has been one of the leading causes for the increase in obsessions and addictions. The inventions of earphones has been a jackpot for the modern day music industry. The youngsters around the world have always appreciated music more as they come out of their adolescence. However, never before has listening to the popular beats and modern tracks been as addictive. One of the reasons for this is the erotic passions that popular Western music brings about. The classical Indian music has mostly been about musical precision and melody. Today’s popular MP3 music is a lot more passionate, hence addictive. Teenage is an age when passions are at its extreme. Western music on earphones is addictive since most of us (teenagers) hear them non-stop!
I will never forget the day when we (hostelers) had an city outing after a month full of studies. I thought the majority will be thinking about fun and movies. But all the discussions leading to the outing were about food! As a rule students studying in India consider Mess food as horrible and tasteless. However, it’s a bit different in my hostel since only vegetarian stuff is provided. My friends were virtually dreaming about the non-vegetarian food that they will be getting to taste after a long time. It was evident to me that most of them considered consuming non-vegetarian to be their purpose in life! I had always thought about food as a thing which keeps me from hunger and allows me to carry on with my life. It’s a fact that we need good food, but taste need not be a priority. If you are passionate about food, it means that you live to eat!
It is instinctive for boys to think that it is ‘cool and manly’ to use abusive words in a normal conversation. Most teenagers never care about learning new languages unless necessary, learning the abusive part of any language is however an exception. A leading character in one of Chetan Bhagat books says that, “Using abusing language is a passion”. This is very true. Abusive words are horrible to the ears of those who are not part of the conversation. But once you start using them, they come naturally and it is a difficulty avoiding them. Indian Cricketer Harbhajan Singh was saved by the fact that he had apparently uttered a Punjabi slang” Maa ki..” at Aussie cricketer, Andrew Symonds on the playfield which was wrongly assumed by the Australians to be ‘Monkey’ which was racial in context. The Indian media supported the cricketer calling it Punjabi culture. It’s such a shame that quest for sporting glories blinds even the national media. The Youth should think of their family backgrounds and spiritual traditions of their country before using and popularising ethically immoral words to their juniors. Abusive language is an addictive yet avoidable passion!
The dangers of most addictions are well-known. It is time we also think about the danger of addictions in general. Your heart is stronger than any of your addictions. Dreams are born to be fulfilled; what you need is determination! Get addicted to your passions at your own peril!
The writer is a Correspondent of Youth Ki Awaaz.
image courtesy: http://article.wn.com/view/2010/01/12/Pakistans_drug_problem/