City Life Essay: For All Class Students

[Man and the town. Characteristics of town life. Advantages. Disadvantages. How to turn disadvantages into advantages. Importance.]

Today we can identify people in two broad groups-the country-man and the city-man or townsman. The change that civilization has brought about in the world has caused this inevitable division. Consequently, each group has its own method of living, distinct characteristics and traits.

"God made the country and man made the town". Therefore, the towns-man is a product of his own inventions, discoveries, and innovations. He nurtures himself by keeping himself aloof from the touch of Nature. He makes an integrated system of material, social, psychological, and ecological elements and then gives himself up in the direct control of that system. Thus he grows up in a a controlled manner, nearly completely different from the country-man who is directly nurtured by Nature herself.

As was said before, town-life has some distinct characteristics which distinguish it from the country life. Those who live in towns find life very busy and routinized. They can hardly ever stand at one place for long. They are continuously entrapped in motion and rush. They must move, as must the water of the river.

They have to interact with innumerable physical, social, mechanical, and human elements. To them, every-day life is full of relationships, relationships of various kinds with various sub-systems. They are busy not only physically, but also mentally. Their life is environed by dust, smoke, whizz, buzz, some 'l of carbon monoxide, and a hardened touch of bricks tiles and pavements. These words are true for all the dwellers of all cities.

City-life has some certain advantages. In cities, people usually have more work than in countries. This means that the rate of unemployment is low. Here those who have money can have almost anything they like, there being sufficient supply of necessaries and luxuries.

Medical facilities are most available here. There are hospitals, clinics, ambulances, drugstores, and qualified doctors. Actually, almost all the highly qualified doctors of a country are settled in towns.

There are good facilities for education also. Education, knowledge, and consciousness-these are the foundations of the modern town. Housewives in the towns do not have to burn their hands and suffocate their eyes with smoke during their cooking activities; they are blessed with the latest arrangements of civilization-gas-stoves, electric heaters, and various other micro-ovens. For them, it is but a few minutes of work to cook any dish whatever.

Best of all, the town-life enjoys much more than country life. There are cinemas, theatres, audio-video clubs, cultural programs arranged for specific occasions, parks, clubs, and so on for their recreation. Transportation and communication, which must be made mention of in this regard, have made the towns some sort of representative heaven, so to say: here geographical distance can not sever one man or institution from another; all enjoy the pleasure of domestic proximity of one another. The advantages are many since the man himself made towns for his own convenience.

But if we look at the other side of the town-life, we can observe a number of fatal disadvantages. That is, town-life is not at all free from dangers. Here, life is threatened by severe environmental pollutions caused by dust, smoke, continuous obnoxious sounds of motor vehicles and factories, filths and dirt, and such other things.

There are street accidents, traffic jams. A closer look into the inner world of men's minds discloses other dangers. It is true that the drastic improvement in transport and communication has brought people together and closer, but the reality is that, in towns, few people feel love and sympathy for others. They touch one another but, alas, can not feel.

They come close together but do not make friends with one another. Perhaps the whirl of motion leaves them dizzy. And consequently, they do much but think less; or maybe they sometimes think but do not feel. Values and traditions, truth to tell, are vanishing away from their minds.

The ultimate results are obvious: selfishness, narrow-mindedness, and tumult. Here people have huddled up in an artificial cage of the rage of civilization. The British biologist and writer aptly describe this situation in these words:"..... the city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo".

But these disadvantages can, however, be turned into advantages. To do this initiatives have to be taken not only by the government but also by various non-government and business institutions. At the same time, individuals have to do their part as expected.

Probable suggestions may include the removal of smoke-emitting factories from the towns, emphasizing the propaganda of our own traditions and culture, building awareness about reviving and retaining our values and unity, encouraging people to leave towns and settle in the country by bringing about a drastic change in the financial structure of the society and so on.

Despite all the demerits, town-life has the most importance. Towns create important people. We have no alternative to towns. But complete extremism of polarization is not at all expected. What we expect is to reap the benefits of the town-life, and at the same time, to retain the beauty and beatitude of the country life.

And, to be sure, this can not be achieved by forcing towns-people to live in the country or country people in the town. Rather, we have to learn to identify ourselves as children of the country and citizens of the town.