Are we really civilized?

Today, the people living in cities and towns say that they are civilized and those who live in backward areas are uncivilized. On the other hand, the people who live in villages say that they may not be civilized but they are cultured. Most of the people think that they are more civilized than their ancestors. They think that civilization means to live in an urban environment. Being civilized does not mean living in a city or following highly sophisticated habits. It does not mean to be surrounded by the latest technology and use it wherever possible. Civilization means to live in peace and harmony with others. It means to develop without harming the others or nature.

What actually Civilization is?

Civilization actually means urban and communication development without forgetting what our culture is. Civilization does not mean to get so involved in development that you do not even think about if our development is harming other people or nature itself. Civilization does not mean to harm others for your own needs. Civilization does not mean that you are living in a city and robbing a bank to fulfil your needs. It also does not mean that you stay quiet while a crime is happening in front of your eyes. If you see someone in a problem and you have a way to help him but you still not help him, then you are not at all civilized. If you dress up in branded clothes, wear make-up or accessories and define yourself as civilized, and the describe the people wearing simple clothes and staying in simple and natural look as uncivilized, then you are wrong. Civilization does not come from clothes or way of living, it comes from how you behave with other people, how you help them and form a peaceful society.

Civilization does not mean You have to be Selfish
Civilization does not mean only your own development. If for your own profit, you put someone else in a loss, you are not civilized. If you blame someone else for your mistake then also you are not civilized. Doing a crime for self-interests does not make a civilization. Dishonouring others is not civilization. Consider an example. You are walking on a road and you see some people molesting a woman and instead of helping the way you just walk away because you think it is none of your business. In this case, you are partners in crime with the people molesting the lady. This shows how civilized you are. There will be no difference between the people molesting her and you.

Now a day, accidents on the road are very common in the cities. Once in a day or once in two days, we get to see some accident while we are travelling. Whenever some accident happens people gather around as if some show is going on. People look at the victim who is badly injured but no one tries to help. They will wait for the police. They think that this will be a police case, why to get involved. The victim may die in front of them but the people will just see instead of taking him to the nearby hospital. This shows the civilization of the people. They will live in cities, use advanced vehicles but will not help someone who is dying on the road in front of them. There are also some uncivilized people who hit someone with their vehicle and will leave that person there and then and will run. Hit and run cases show the civilization of people who call them civilized.

Civilization does not mean Stop Being Social
Being social does not means having a group of friends and hanging around with them every weekend. For being social you do not need social networking sites or apps. You just need a few people who are truly dedicated to each other and always ready to help each other in all possible ways. Being social means to talk to the people nicely, greeting them if you see them somewhere, and maintaining good relationships with the neighbors. It is said and seen that whenever someone is in trouble, neighbors are the first to help. There should be a healthy relationship between the neighbors.

Usually, the people who call them civilized do not have a social group. These people who live in towns and cities are so involved in their own lives that they do not even know who is living in their neighborhood. These people call the village residents as uncivilized but people living in villages know all the people living around them. They all stay like a family. They all help each other whenever and wherever possible. This again shows that living in an urban area does not make you civilized. You need to be socially happy.

Civilization does not mean Harming the Nature
There are some people, who say that for civilization they are clearing forested lands just for urban development projects. But this is not civilization. Nature is our mother. Interfering with it will affect us both directly and indirectly. Interfering with nature for development is not civilization. In the name of civilization, man is playing with nature, he is interfering with the flow of water bodies, and he is creating new inventions which damage the nature. Nature is a gift of God to us to fulfill our needs but we do not have any right to overexploit it.

 It is not just the builders or big companies which are damaging the nature in the name of civilization. Every civilized person wants to keep their house clean so they clean their house and throw all their litter into the natural environment away from them. This is not civilization. Civilization does not mean to dirty the nature to clean your surroundings. River Ganga is an example of this. Ganga is considered to be the most sacred river in India. It is worshiped as a goddess. But recently it was noted that the river Ganga is the dirtiest river. Not only Ganga, waste is dumped in all kinds of river bodies.

Civilization does not include Discrimination and Inequalities
People say that they are civilized. They have a good education background. Then why these people discriminate in people with respect to their color, caste, religion etc. it is commonly seen in cities that well-educated people stop their children from playing with the children of lower classes. They stay away from the people which have a different religion. People also think that the person who earns less is inferior to them and they will try to establish their superiority on them. There are some families who live in cities, have a good education background but still abort a child if it is a girl. This is no kind of civilization.

Another kind of inequality between people is seen in marriages. The family of the boy usually considers themselves as superior to the family of the girl and demands a dowry from them. They force the girl’s family to fulfill their demands or else they cancel the marriage. Dowry is considered illegal. It is a crime to take and give dowry. But still, there are people who live in towns and cities and are well educated but still take or give dowry. This shows that even good education cannot make people actually civilized. 

Civilization has no Place for Corruption
Corruption is spreading in our society rapidly. Most of the people of the country are involved in corruption. Corruption does not only mean to take bribes but it also includes giving a bribe. Taking or giving a bribe is illegal but still, it can be seen openly. Whenever a person breaks a traffic law, he must be fined, but to avoid this, people prefer to give a bribe to the traffic police official. In this case, both the policeman and the person who broke the rule are equally responsible for corruption. It can be seen in some public offices that people demand a huge sum of money for doing some work. The government already pays them for their work but just to fill their pockets the demanded bribe in cash or kind from the people whose work they are doing. These people have no right to call themselves as civilized.

Conclusion
Having a good education does not makes you civilized. It is your work and your behavior towards other which makes you civilized. If you are educated but you still do not help others, you harm others with your words or action or you perform some crime then you are not civilized. If you do not who is living in your neighborhood, if you are rude to other people, or if you believe in any kind of inequality even then also you are not civilized. In this context, the people living in backward areas are more civilized as they are more social than you and are always ready to help others. Civilization is associated with development but that is of no use if it will spoil Mother Nature. For the sake of development, nature has been exploited so much that now it cannot even be cured. Because of this civilization, many animals have lost their natural habitats and many species of flora and fauna has become extinct. This does not mean that civilization is wrong. Civilization is good if it is approached in a healthy way. Our work and development should not harm other people or nature. We should think of everyone as equal and we should be ready to help others in any way we can. This is what civilization should actually mean.