IT is not just blatant lip service to altruistic values so respected in civilized societies, but also symptomatic of deeper darker shades of double standards that are reflected in three special days that have come and gone in our lives in the last one week. And that they should have come in Ramazan is yet another occasion for reflection, at the hypocrisy being referred to.

The three days were the International Day for Senior Citizens (Oct 1), the Animal Day (Oct 4) and then the World Teachers Day (Oct 5). Quite certainly there would be other symbols to mirror how hollow can be our commitment to such concepts as these days symbolize. But for now, these should suffice.

Look at the Senior Citizens Day that was observed by the Geriatric Care Foundation, and which had a walk in front of the Karachi Press Club. Displaying banners to project their case, the founding president Dr Raana Mahmood was quoted by APP as saying that “elderly citizens of Pakistan deserved the attention of the public, society and the government.”

Now this sounds acceptable, but I find missing here a word ‘family’. For what is commonly heard is the complaint that now the elderly, as society urbanizes and becomes materialistic, are being neglected by the family. And if the family was to play its desired and normative role, many of the miseries and the agonies of the old would stand diminished, at least.

Perhaps an oblique reference to this comes from the founding president, who has called for proper medical care facility and sociological setup to ensure respect for such people, and stressed the need for day care centres, and nursing homes for the elderly.

For all the religious values that we profess; for all the sermons that we receive and for all the culture and traditions that we have, we are reaching a stage where the elderly are talking of the need to have nursing homes and day care centres.

When one looks back at Pakistani society, no need was felt in the past for showing concerns for the elderly and the senior citizens (like this special day) because the institution of the family and the neighborhood was caring, strong and emotionally comforting. The bonds of togetherness were abiding – and not torn as under by the corrosion of the materialism that has almost taken over our network of values and norms.

The Animal Day observed a few days back in town gives many thoughts to mind about the attitude that this society has towards animals – even pets. I do not know whether the Society for the Prevention and Care of Animals, which was pioneered by the late Lady Constantine once upon a time, exists today. Why doesn’t one hear of what it is doing, if it exists? Why is there silence on this front? Does it not show our collective indifference to animals?

I spoke to Dr Abrar Pirzada, a noted veterinary surgeon, on the attitude that Pakistanis have towards animals. He was emphatic when he said that it seemed that we in fact ‘hate animals’, and that the percentage of people who have pets is very small, when compared to other societies. It is also strange that no public service advertising is done on this theme.

There was a time when families kept birds as pets and believed that these pets would help ward off evil spirits and trouble. Now homes and families are too busy with their lives to even perceive the emotional worth and the soothing impact of having pets at home.

The situation is now so disgraceful that parents and elders no longer talk to their kids about showing love and care for animals like cats and dogs. The result is that children without any rhyme or reason throw stones at them.

I must mention here a recent chance of conversation that I had with a chartered accountant, S.M Khalidein, 55, who has been visiting the Karachi Zoo regularly for the last four decades.

He goes to the zoo with a sense of pride, feels good about being with animals and nature. He generally chooses morning time to visit the zoo, where he and his wife spend an hour while walking under the trees, feeding the animals, and spending money on a culture that he insists must survive. I have mentioned his example, to perhaps wonder why there are not more Karachiites like him. For all the recreational places that are publicized by their respective managements, the zoo remains sidelined, as if we are apologetic.

See we also observed the World Teachers’ Day a couple of days back. One teacher was so angry at the thought of having a day like this that he was unwilling to even talk about it. He argufied that it was because we had no inner respect for teachers that we want to have the charade of having a teachers’ day. He shot a rhetorical question at me and said “do you know that the teachers have no social status? Even the students don’t respect the teachers, either when they are students or when they have left the educational institutions,” he said in bitterness.

Not altogether surprising was the fact that no teachers’ organization in the city issued any statement taking notice of the Teachers’ Day. And unlike Fathers’ Day and Mothers’ Day or Valentine Day which are commercial propositions, there were no newspaper advertisements and courier company commercials creating an ambience of fun and games. Not even lip service in this case. Teachers bring me nostalgia and I remember my teachers at school, college and university here, and acknowledge the debt of gratitude I owe to them.

Having said all this makes me understand now why on these pages last week there appeared a news agency report headlined ‘Turn off TV, turn on life’. I was perplexed and asked many people whether we were watching too much TV here. Is it because there is too much TV already in our lives that we have become indifferent to elders and senior citizens? Do we believe that now the medium of television is a better teacher than the teacher in the classroom?

Unfortunately the answer to all these questions is in the affirmative? I do not want to prejudice your response. We could return to this very crucial theme, later.