Solitude might be relaxing and pleasing for a while, but as quoted by Aristotle, ‘Man is a social animal’ and therefore being cut off from the world is neither healthy nor agreeable. Besides the physical and material needs, our emotional needs too are fulfilled by the society. Our happiness and sorrows depend to a great extent on the people who surround us. We react to them and are affected by their actions. Conversely they respond and react to us based on the vibes we send across. If this was not true, we would have lived our independent lives and would have been devoid of any emotion. Since we are so much a part of the society and so much dependent on it , it is our moral duty and responsibility to contribute towards its benefit. Whichever profession we choose, our aim should primarily be to contribute towards the development of the society. The satisfaction and happiness one gets from rendering his services to the society so as to make a positive difference is most rewarding.

Progress of a society and Nation as a whole, depends to a great extent on its youth. How they are guided and molded by their elders is what makes them responsible citizens. All experienced and knowledgeable and responsible members of the society are duty bound to guide these youngsters for progress of the Nation. The first duty is undoubtedly the parents’ who are always the first and the best guides for their children. Giving them time and helping them through their ups and downs, inculcating right values and priorities is the biggest responsibility of each parent. When parents are too busy to take care of their children or too ignorant to understand what is best for them, the onus falls on the teachers. Apart from formal education, it is important to teach etiquette, moral values, personal well-being, and sanitation or just about anything that helps in their overall growth, with practical inputs. 

In the modern world where friendship is virtual, pleasantries are exchanged over telephones and taking care of parents refers to putting them in plush old age homes or keeping full time nurses for them, there is this incessant need to bridge the distance between individuals so as to remain human instead of being robots in the hands of technology and work pressure. Life skills today are a part of school curriculum, something that got instilled in the earlier generations at home since childhood. Life skills, soft skills are trained so that people can excel in their lives. Things like stress management, time management, decision making, interpersonal relationships which were leant by trial and error methods by everybody ,is lacking so much that there are training institutes for the same. People are so busy with work that they are unable to instill these skills in their own children. More so because they are unable to lead by example. How are we contributing to the society if we are so lost in ourselves? Taking breaks and going for holidays in order to recharge is something done by everyone but does it really work? Should we not try and make our everyday life interesting so that holidays are just a choice and not a necessity? Most people work because it is a means for earning bread but if we enjoy our work the output is always better. Today we work for ourselves, for comfort and luxury. Very rarely do we think of upliftment of the society. Small gestures like teaching street children, donating old clothes to the needy, teaching compassion and tolerance to our own children and standing up against what is wrong are just examples of numerous ways one can contribute to the society. The ultimate aim is growth and development which is possible only by reaching out and helping out.

Earning money is of course essential for everyone. For anyone to feel motivated towards his profession, incentive is paramount. Hard work for success should very much be compensated with rewards appropriately. That’s the key to the progress of a Nation and society as a whole. But there is a thin line between earning money by unfair means or crushing whoever comes your way and earning money through fair means, hard work and dedication .The difference between the two is that one is a self cantered motive while the other is to work for the community and for progress of an organization or the Nation. In one we overlook all those surrounding us and work for our own personal gain while in the other we work for the benefit of others and in the process benefit ourselves. The first kind is like an unquenchable thirst while the other is satisfying, fulfilling carrier. Focus to broaden the outlook or horizon and to think beyond self is the only way to contribute towards the progress of a society. Our own happiness is interlinked with satisfaction. What we earn is also satisfactory only if we enjoy what we do. Finding time to socialize, spending time with family and stealing time to look around and breathe in fresh air ,feel the surroundings and contributing in whichever ways possible must be done on daily basis.

Besides reaching out to our fellow beings, contribution to the society and world as a whole also includes contributing to our surroundings, our environment. The rise in temperature over the years, shortage of natural resources, innumerable natural disasters to a great extent hold us responsible. The rise in population, lack of sanitation and hygiene, remorseless wastage of resources by the better privileged, corruption at every sphere of life and general indifference to the problems is largely responsible for various disasters like landslides, droughts and global warming as a whole.   Unless each one of us is aware of the consequences of wastage of natural resources and importance of conservation there is precious little we can do to save the world. Shoving the issue and pretending that the responsibility lies on the Government or the Western countries is simply feigning ignorance and turning a blind eye to the problem. Its time to be aware and create awareness and strictly follow what we preach. Planting more trees, saving electricity, conserving water, saving food, recycling wastes, cleaning surroundings are our individual responsibilities. 

Simple things if followed with diligence and by encouraging all in the vicinity to pledge to themselves that they will contribute to the society the best they can is the only way we leave a happier ,healthier and better world for our generations to come.