is future better or was past

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mujhko yaqeen hai sach kahti thi, jo bhi ammi kahti thi -2 jab mere bachpan ke din the, ,chaand mein pariyaan rahti thi

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ye daulat bhii le lo, ye shoharat bhii le lobhale chhiin lo mujhase merii javaanii, magar mujhako lautaa do bachapan kaa saavan, vo kaagaz kii kashtii, vo baarish kaa paanii.

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Two ghazals, sung by the same legend, remembering the past, but, in such different ways. One is fondly recollecting past (childhood) without complaining about the present, other is truly unhappy with the present day reality. The latter one, I must admit with my limited knowledge, is quite a popular theme amongst poets. :-)

Why is it so? Primarily, I think, Poets who write about how life was much better earlier usually are old folks. It resonates with how my grandparents would talk about their lives. As one grows old, there is tendency to dislike the present and romanticize the past. Nothing wrong with that, but I think it tends to get overdone. Broader question, however, requires a more careful introspection. Civilizations that believe that their “peak” has already past tend to encourage this theme of writing quite a bit. A classic example is India. We have grown up being told that India was a "sone ki chidiya" and what we have now is all rut. That the “best has already happened”. It affects today’s' generations’ outlook to future in a profound way. It forces evaluation to today’s development with hazy benchmarks of past. It blinds you to absorb all the traditions/customs as they seem to be belonging to the much coveted glorious historical era. Old practices, social norms etc get un-reasoned acceptance.

Compare this to a country like America. They, obviously, can’t claim to have had a grand history like us. However, what this does is that at a sociological level citizens are trying to reach to their peak. They believe "the best is yet to happen". It is a lot more positive thought than of "the best has already happened" thought.

Well, in the end it boils down to, like everything, a “definitional issue” :-) . How do you define development. How do you !!