Inhuman, Uncivilised, Senseless Society: Why Are People Losing Indian Identity?

The Scattering of Minds and the Erosion of Brotherhood

Oh, what a mess we’ve become! In this so-called modern India of 2026, people are scattered like leaves in the wind—in their thinking, working, and dealing with the public. Sure, many humans still pretend to be social beings, full of helping nature, but that’s mostly in the villages where some shred of brotherhood clings on like a dying tradition. But step into the metropolitan cities? Forget it! Nobody cares about you or what you think. Whether you’re dead or alive, it’s all the same to them. People are just running after money, drowning in selfishness, and joining a society where emotions are as dead as doornails. No one’s ready to help others without some hidden agenda. And why? How has our society turned so insensitive, so blind to the pain around us? While countries like Japan and European nations show real care for their fellow people, with a sense of responsibility and understanding the value of life, we’re here acting like animals in a jungle. It’s shameful, really—we call ourselves the land of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna, but behave like nonsense, never learning from mistakes. Do we even deserve to be called citizens of a developing nation? The answer is a big fat no; we’re shameless and uncivilised.

Education Without Values: A Structural Weakness

Our schools pump out bookish knowledge but skip the values, and folks flock to satsangs or babas’ teachings, but what do we get? Nothing but hypocrisy. We’re obsessed with our own homes, kids, and things, ignoring if the neighbour is dying. Don’t they remember? Our homes make villages, villages make towns, towns make cities, cities make states, and states make the nation.

And it’s the people of that nation who make it great—or in our case, drag it down. The education system carries enormous responsibility in shaping social behaviour.

In many institutions, academic achievement remains the central focus. Examination scores determine prestige. Technical skills are prioritized. Competitive exams dominate student life.

But where is value education?

Reports over the years have criticized rote learning models that emphasize memorization over critical thinking and moral reasoning. Graduates may possess technical knowledge yet struggle with civic sensitivity.

Employability concerns often dominate debates, but employability without ethical grounding risks producing efficient yet indifferent professionals.

Education must integrate moral literacy: empathy training, community service, ethical debate, and social responsibility projects. Without this, intellectual growth becomes disconnected from humane conduct.

The Rise of Selfishness: When Empathy Becomes Rare

Let’s start with the basics: the scattering of minds and the death of brotherhood. In rural India, there’s still some glue holding people together—folks help each other out of habit or tradition, but urbanisation is eating that away. A 2025 report on Indian society’s selfishness and urban impact shows how rapid city growth has bred isolation; people in metros like Delhi or Mumbai live in bubbles, prioritising personal gain over community. Urban dwellers are twice as likely to ignore neighbours’ needs compared to villagers, according to surveys highlighting how selfishness spikes with city life. It’s no wonder emotions feel dead—everyone’s too busy chasing rupees to notice the human next door. This selfishness isn’t just talk; it’s turning us into monsters. Look at the videos surfacing online: a lady throwing little puppies like they’re trash, as if they don’t have lives. One shocking clip from Bengaluru in 2025 shows a man named Kiran torturing and killing a stray puppy on CCTV, sparking outrage but no real change. Another viral video from Meerut that year: a man beats a street dog to death with sticks after it bit a child, dragging the body like garbage. And don’t forget the one where a woman throws hot water on a small kid just for splashing colour on her—pure rage over nothing. These aren’t rare; animal cruelty cases spiked in 2025, with over 10,000 reported incidents, many captured on video and shared on social media. People “help” others only to take advantage, like vultures circling a carcass. How did we get here? Urban selfishness is the culprit—studies show city life erodes empathy, making folks prioritise self over society [1,2,3,4].

A Comparative Lens: Lessons from Other Societies

Now, compare this to other countries. In Japan or European nations like Sweden or the Netherlands, people actually care. They have a sense of responsibility; they value life. When someone—elderly, kid, or young—crosses the road, vehicles stop to give way. It’s common there; drivers even signal pedestrians to go first. Road safety reports from 2025 rank Japan and European countries among the safest, with fatality rates as low as 2-4 per 100,000 people, thanks to courteous driving and strict enforcement. In contrast, India’s roads are death traps—over 1.75 lakh fatalities projected for 2025, up from previous years, with overspeeding and reckless driving causing 70% of deaths. Indian drivers don’t care; if they’re in a car, the road is theirs. Especially those Thar or expensive SUV owners—they drive like kings, running over people. Incidents are regular, almost fashionable: in 2025, multiple cases of SUV drivers crushing pedestrians, like in Delhi, where fatalities rose 4.2% to 1,617. Government officials’ vehicles and buses zoom at full speed, killing many—national highways saw 57,482 deaths in 2025, down slightly but still horrific. Pedestrians? Nobody cares about them on sidewalks. Even after accidents, people stand by, ignoring the injured, afraid of police cases. Why? Because our police harass helpers first, dragging them into endless inquiries. Despite Good Samaritan laws protecting helpers since 2015—no harassment, no forced identity reveal—fear persists, costing lives. On X (formerly Twitter), clips flood in: wrong-side driving, ill-mannered overtakes—drivers ignoring traffic basics. Indian roads are dead roads; you leave home with no guarantee of returning safely. Over 1.6 lakh deaths in 2025 alone—every three minutes, a life gone [5,6,7,8].

Religious Identity Without Ethical Practice

We boast of being the land of gods—Rama’s justice, Krishna’s wisdom—but act like fools, repeating mistakes. Religious hypocrisy is rampant: millions attend satsangs or follow babas, yet apply zero teachings. A 2025 study on Indian religious practices calls out this ineffectiveness—people chant mantras but ignore compassion, turning faith into a show. Our schools? They teach books, not values. Reports from 2025 slam the Indian education system for lacking moral education—only 42.6% graduates are employable, as rote learning kills empathy. We’re self-obsessed: own home, own kids, own stuff—what’s happening next door? Who cares if they’re dying? This mindset is killing us. Urbanisation fuels it, breaking community bonds. Remember: a nation is built from the ground up. If we don’t care for each other, how can India ever be great? Wake up, or we’re doomed to this inhuman existence [9].

Reclaiming Indian Identity: What Does It Truly Mean?

Indian identity has historically encompassed diversity, coexistence, and resilience. It has absorbed invasions, colonization, modernization, and globalization while retaining cultural continuity.

Losing identity does not mean losing tradition. It means losing values.

If compassion disappears, identity weakens.
If civic discipline collapses, identity erodes.
If empathy declines, identity fragments.

The strength of a nation is not measured only in GDP growth, technological advancement, or global ranking. It is measured in how its citizens treat the vulnerable — the elderly crossing a road, the injured stranger, the stray animal, the struggling neighbour.

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A Path Forward: Restoring Humanity

Restoration is possible.

1. Value-Based Education Reform
   Integrate structured moral education and civic engagement programs at every academic level.
2. Community Revitalization Initiatives
   Encourage local events, shared activities, and resident welfare participation in urban areas.
3. Strict and Visible Enforcement
   Ensure that traffic violations, cruelty cases, and civic offences face consistent penalties.
4. Strengthening Good Samaritan Trust
   Publicize successful cases where helpers were protected and honored.
5. Religious Accountability
   Encourage faith leaders to emphasize actionable compassion over ritual performance.
6. Media Responsibility
   Highlight positive examples of civic courage and kindness, not just sensational violence.
7. Personal Reflection
   Each individual must ask:
   Am I contributing to the problem or the solution?

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Conclusion: A Wake-Up Call

A nation is not built by monuments, highways, or economic rankings alone. It is built from homes, from families, from neighbourhoods, from citizens who care.

Homes create villages.
Villages create towns.
Towns create cities.
Cities create states.
States create a nation.

If citizens withdraw into self-interest, the foundation weakens. If empathy dies, progress becomes hollow.

India stands at a crossroads — technologically advancing yet socially questioning itself.

The choice is collective.

We can continue down a path of indifference, allowing selfishness to dominate public life.

Or we can consciously reclaim the values that once defined us: compassion, courage, responsibility, and shared humanity.

The question is no longer whether society has changed.

The question is whether we are willing to change it back — together.