Q : Earlier, family life, the foundation of society, used to be strong. But, now in Kerala, the divorce rates are increasing. Moreover, for the new generation, leaving the bond of marriage is not a big deal. What are the reasons for this development of leaving good-old traditions behind?
Sri M : What I feel is, the institution of family and the concept of joint family has changed now. Nowadays, it is difficult to sustain it. For the new generation, the thinking is very different. There is a generation gap. A safe way to avoid this is to stay separate. A less safe way is to sort it out by thinking these issues through, sitting down for dialogues and patching up.
People follow the easy method. Following the easy method leads to breakups and divorce. Animals don’t have marriage or divorce. Do they? But human beings, when they developed the society, discovered there are certain benefits to marriage, and the institution was thus constituted.
In some religions, marrying and divorcing is not so difficult. If I don’t like it, I can divorce. But, in some cultures, divorcing is considered wrong. Hence, the new generation, faced with this confusion, does not prefer these institutions. They don’t have the time to study/examine all this. When we have domestic problems, we can conclude things only after studying or examining things deeply. The main reason for these problems is that all are self-centered. Any foreign body in this self-centeredness is expelled. This is what happens. The only way out is to transform the mind to goodness. Any external reformation won’t help here. It won’t work.
