The Future Needs the Wisdom of the Past
By Sanjeev Shekhar
A few days ago, I saw a young couple buying cold pressed mustard oil, organic jaggery and millets from a premium store. The bill was several times higher than what our parents would have paid for the same things years ago. It made me smile and think. Are we really spending money today to buy back the lifestyle our grandparents gave us for free?
Looking back, I realise that many things we once considered ordinary were actually valuable lessons in healthy living. Our parents asked us to wake up early and go to bed early. Meals were simple and mostly home-cooked. Dal, roti, vegetables, seasonal fruits, buttermilk and homemade food were part of everyday life. We often preferred jaggery to refined sugar. We walked more, climbed stairs and played outside. Nobody spoke about fitness because everyday life itself kept us active. Games like Football and Cricket were played in every ‘mohalla’ or colony.
Many of our mothers and grandmothers also followed traditional practices such as oil massage before bathing and putting a few drops on the naval. We may not have understood the science behind every practice, but these habits were part of a way of life that valued simplicity and discipline.
Then life changed. Western toilets replaced the traditional ones. Fast food quietly entered our homes. Pizza, burgers, pasta and fried chicken became weekend celebrations that gradually turned into everyday choices. Convenience entered our homes. Television replaced evening conversations. Mobile phones replaced neighbourhood friendships. Children moved from playing outdoors to spending hours in front of screens. We started choosing convenience over discipline.
Today, we are slowly returning to many of the same habits. We buy organic food, millets and natural products. We pay for yoga classes. We try to walk every day. We talk about mindful eating, better sleep and reducing screen time. Perhaps this is life completing a full circle. I am not suggesting that we reject modern life. Technology, modern medicine and scientific progress have made our lives better in many ways. Progress is necessary. But progress should not make us forget wisdom.
As a Corporate Affairs and HR professional, I have always believed that leadership is not only about organisations, policies or decisions. It is also about the values we carry into our families and the example we set for the next generation.
What are we teaching our children? Are we teaching them that success means only earning more, or are we also teaching them how to live well? The next generation will inherit a world of artificial intelligence, smart technology and greater convenience. But they also need to inherit the simple values that kept earlier generations connected, active and grounded.
Let us give them both. Let us embrace the future without abandoning the wisdom of the past. Because sometimes, the greatest step forward is simply taking one step back towards our roots. And perhaps the real wealth we can leave for the next generation is not only what we earn for them, but how we teach them to live.
The next generation does not need us to return to the past. It needs us to carry forward the best of it. Let us give them technology without taking away simplicity, ambition without taking away balance, and progress without taking away our roots. Because leadership is not only about building a better future. It is also about ensuring that we do not lose the wisdom that brought us this far.
(THE WRITER IS A CORPORATE AFFAIRS, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS AND HUMAN CAPITAL LEADER WITH OVER THREE DECADES OF EXPERIENCE ACROSS THE POWER, INFRA-STRUCTURE AND MEDIA SECTOR)
