Signs of Progress?

Traditionally, the Asian Indian (Indian) culture has been very family oriented. It is well documented that Indians will make personal sacrifices to keep the family going.

Lately, I have come across a number of situations where this has not been the case. I used to hear about such cases, but never paid attention to them until this started happening with family and friends. All of these are cases of divorce, some involving little kids. In all these cases, the family has split over what seem to be trivial issues, issues one would find in every household. What is worse is that in pretty much every case, there is an extra-marital affair, with a married person, so that not one but two households are shattered as a result. In some of these cases, one of the spouses has even gone down to the level of hurting the other spouse by threatening them, by lodging false complaints with the police, or by canceling medical insurance etc.

Adopting western values and ideas has always been labeled as progress in India. I must say that I am appalled at this kind of progress. The western world has always been criticized about being too individualistic, and the Indian culture seems to be adopting this value very rapidly. Living in America as a foreigner is hard enough, and for a kid to grow up in this country in a spilt family is going to be far more challenging. People have become too busy and have no time to think, and are making irrational decisions in haste. This is not progress. The only way we can make progress is by thinking more, and knowing fully well the consequences of our actions.