The Decline of Decency

Between smartphones, school ranks, and shifting norms, Kashmir’s moral compass drifts. A teacher retraces the road that led here.

- Mushtaq Hurra

There was a time when the word adab carried weight in our homes. It meant grace, restraint, and warmth woven together.

A child who bowed before an elder, and a student who lowered his gaze before a teacher were lessons in humility.

Today, I look around and see the scaffolding of that old world collapsing.

The moral castles our elders built with patience and prayer are giving way to noise. Gratitude is rare, modesty feels dated, and affection has turned into performance.

A teacher’s words no longer echo in a student's heart. They float away like dust.

What caused this slow unraveling? Where did the thread snap?

Every thoughtful person asks the same questions, but few pause long enough to listen for the answers.

The change did not happen overnight. It crept in silently, in small ways, through the screens we gifted our children, the silence we maintained when they spoke without respect, and the way we began to measure success by income rather than integrity.