Shas­tri Boodan

Free­lance Con­trib­u­tor

Na­tion­als must deal se­ri­ous­ly with the de­cay­ing el­e­ments of so­ci­ety, says Na­tion­al Coun­cil of In­di­an Cul­ture (NCIC) pres­i­dent Su­ru­jdeo Man­ga­roo.

Man­ga­roo made the com­ment at the open­ing of the 38th Di­vali Na­gar at the NCIC Na­gar, Ch­agua­nas, on Sat­ur­day.

He said delin­quent stu­dent be­hav­iour is just one ex­am­ple of what Trinidad and To­ba­go is cur­rent­ly fac­ing.

“Across our schools and com­mu­ni­ties, we are wit­ness­ing trou­bling pat­terns of be­hav­iour among our chil­dren. Dis­re­spect, in­dis­ci­pline, vi­o­lence, and a weak­en­ing of moral val­ues are be­com­ing too fre­quent,” Man­ga­roo said.

This is not just a school prob­lem; it is a na­tion­al con­cern. If our chil­dren fal­ter, it means we, as a so­ci­ety, are not do­ing enough to guide them. Their ed­u­ca­tion must go be­yond aca­d­e­mics; it must nur­ture val­ues of re­spect, com­pas­sion, dis­ci­pline, and ser­vice. In­deed, it takes a vil­lage to raise a child.”

Man­ga­roo said this year’s theme for the Na­gar—Lo­ka San­gra­ha, or Wel­fare of the World—calls up­on all to rise above self-in­ter­est and em­brace the well-be­ing of all hu­man­i­ty.

He added, “It re­minds us that our ac­tions must be guid­ed by com­pas­sion, jus­tice, sol­i­dar­i­ty, and re­spon­si­bil­i­ty—for the wel­fare of the world be­gins with the wel­fare of our fam­i­lies, our com­mu­ni­ties, and our na­tion. Yet, as we re­flect on this no­ble theme, we must al­so con­front the re­al­i­ties of our present time.”

Man­ga­roo said the Na­gar plays a cru­cial and in­valu­able role.

“It is not on­ly a cul­tur­al cel­e­bra­tion but al­so a liv­ing class­room. An­nu­al­ly, here at the Na­gar, we host the Yu­va Manch, chil­dren’s pro­gramme, and chil­dren’s homes ac­tiv­i­ties. Here, our chil­dren can see, hear, and ex­pe­ri­ence the val­ues that our an­ces­tors cher­ished—val­ues, morals, and cus­toms that can guide them to be­come re­spon­si­ble cit­i­zens and com­pas­sion­ate lead­ers.”

He added, “Di­vali Na­gar teach­es us that cul­ture is not en­ter­tain­ment alone; it is ed­u­ca­tion, in­spi­ra­tion, and trans­for­ma­tion through our the­mat­ic pre­sen­ta­tion. It is here that the light of knowl­edge can dis­pel the dark­ness of ig­no­rance.”

Man­ga­roo called up­on the Gov­ern­ment, ed­u­ca­tors, re­li­gious lead­ers, par­ents, and stake­hold­ers to recog­nise Di­vali Na­gar as a “na­tion­al in­sti­tu­tion of cul­tur­al and moral de­vel­op­ment.”