The change in the social fabric can be easily understood in such a way that sociotropy is becoming a thing of the past. After Corona, the situation has changed even more. In today’s generation, individuality is taking the place of sociality. There was a time when sociality was given more importance than individuality. In families, localities and around, one would definitely find some people who were Jagat Mama, some Jagat Kaka and some Jagat Dada. Be it younger or older, grandmother or granddaughter, mother-in-law or daughter-in-law, everyone used to call them by their famous names. This was a kind of affinity. People with this kind of personality were loved by everyone, so whether they knew each other or not, they would reach out at the time of need. Such people remained ahead in times of happiness and sorrow, especially in times of trouble. However, today it is almost impossible to find such a personality.
In fact, our tradition has not been of Vyaste but of Samasti. Children were first taught social lessons. The children used to consider all the houses in the locality as their own homes and if anyone living in the locality had a child, they would give them as much love and affection as their own children. The entire neighborhood joined together in sorrow and pain. If there was a death in any house in the locality, the neighbors would take upon themselves the responsibility of taking care and taking care of that family. The work used to be divided in marriages, today the era of catering has come, otherwise only the youth of the family and the locality would take the responsibility of feeding hundreds of people. As soon as the confectioner started his work, the people of the locality were ready to take turns in taking care and helping him. Today all this has changed. Many families live in skyscrapers and the situation has become such that people living in the same complex or apartment do not recognize each other. In such a situation, it would be meaningless to talk about mutual cooperation and reconciliation.
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Sociotropy is used in psychology. However, it is taken in both positive and negative meanings. The attitude of forgetting one’s own happiness in the happiness of keeping others happy is also seen as sociotropy. This is the reason why in order to take this one-sided meaning, people with sociotropy mentality are seen to be depressed, stressed and always worried as a side effect. Whereas sociotropy is not limited to this. Being a partner in the pain of others, providing selfless support and help in times of need, understanding the problems of others and helping as much as possible in removing them is a form of sociotropy. In our tradition, a person who thinks only about himself has been called a single-minded person or a selfish person. Our tradition has been of Vasudhev Kutumbakam. In our tradition there has been a feeling of being happy after seeing the progress of others. Distributing sweets on happy occasions means making everyone a partner in happiness. Similarly, standing up in times of need is a support for the needy.
If we look at it, everything has changed due to the changing social fabric. The culture of the nuclear family has established its dominance in the society. The family is becoming limited to husband, wife and children. The emotionality that used to keep relationships fresh has been lost somewhere. Instead of spending vacation days with grandparents, people have started using it for traveling somewhere. There was a time when we used to go on a trip from the village, many family members of the village were in the touring party. The situation has become such that it is becoming common to leave the elderly member of the family who needs more companionship to take care of the house. The way of sharing happy moments has also changed. The way the priorities have changed, it is becoming self-pleasure instead of people-pleasure. In fact, there was a time when what someone said was important in the meaning of sociality, there was a big fear of social reaction, today the situation is such that there is no concern about what the parents say. Actually, these are the side effects of nuclear family which take people away from sociotropy. However, its importance has now started coming to the fore in western countries. Recently a study in Britain has revealed that now whenever children get a chance, it is considered necessary to be with the family i.e. grandparents. Because due to disintegration in the social fabric, today’s generation is forgetting the importance of relationships. One of the grandparents is becoming a stranger. When special relationships are becoming like this, the very meaning of family is changing, then it would be meaningless to talk about the relationships between neighbours, locality or city-village.
It is certain that the negative effects of today’s generation being away from sociality have started appearing in the society. Western countries have now started moving towards understanding the importance of relationships, whereas we are losing the importance of relationships and sociality. This in itself is a matter of serious concern. Understanding the seriousness of the situation, society and social scientists and psychologists will have to make efforts to improve the situation in time.
– Dr. Rajendra Prasad Sharma
