Attachment connects us all to one another, including our own selves. It can be permanent, or transient; secure, or insecure. It all begins in one's childhood - the initial attachment to one's mother, or father, or grandparents, or the baby-sitter. It also represents a divine bond. Envisage this - when babies first begin to explore the world around them, there is a 'connect'. Babies, who are securely attached to their mothers, seem overjoyed, when they return from work. They, likewise, throw tantrums when their mothers leave them - they also search for them, with frantic intent, the instant they are out of their 'view'.

It is also a gruelling task for some mothers just to go to the washroom, for a fleeting moment. Now picture the opposite effect - most 'insecurely' attached babies seldom stick to their mothers. They don't even act in response, when they leave for work.

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Most children who feel secure present with characteristic traits - organised, positive and relaxed. On the other hand, most children who are insecure appear to be confused, negative or nervous. The inference is obvious. Children, who have had secure early relationships, often establish secure relationships as grown-ups, irrespective of whether the affiliation is based on fondness, allure, romance or good friendship.

Kids, who have had insecure 'attachments', predictably evade close relationships as adults. They also tend to have difficulty in forming relationships, as grown-ups - and, even when they do, they are often aloof to them.

There are, in addition, other influences - such as who we are fond of, or despise, or who we 'gel' well with. These stimuli emerge from one's culture, or sub-culture, within which we spend our formative years. The societal 'duo' has its customs and values too, along with its heroes and villains. It has, in like manner, its leaders and followers.

In simple terms, all cultures have their own role models.

This brings us to a commonplace spectacle - of why the demi-gods of willow sport are, always, the cynosure of all eyes, or role models. While it is agreed that they seem to be running better 'in-between' advertising assignments than between the wickets, at times, they continue to wield their magic wand, no less. Their presence cajoles us to buy a certain product, because it has been endorsed by them. Call it the power of role models, or what you may, the whole idea mirrors a growing revivalist trend. It has transformed our consumerist outlook and social order that it once also helped to nurture. The metaphor is startling. The reason is fundamental.

India, a traditionally conservative culture and somewhat constrained society, for instance, has resurfaced out of its colonial cocoon, or hangover. It is not that the India of the 21st century isn't a complex society. It certainly is - what with its myriad ideologies, cultural and religious pastiche. Just think of it. The ancient temples of Belur and Halebid, in Karnataka, are truly nectar in stone. What astounds us all is the genius of their sculptors and builders. They were not just artistic talents; they transcended imagination. They experimented not just with art, but also with piles of stone. What they erected is extraordinary. Their magnificent work has stood the test and ravages of time.

Well, what we have today is a host of collapsed 'monuments' - not just one, or two, infamous structures that crashed before long.

The problem is not with technology; the problem lies with us. Because, we aren't smart enough to do what we promise to deliver.

When we don't, we tend to be illogical and impractical.

For the most part, we refuse to learn from our disasters, because wealth and power are concentrated in the hands of a few who lack true uprightness to serve society. There is no 'foreign hand' that can be blamed for such a deplorable spectacle, masked as progress.

Blame it on the 'invisible hand' that holds power in the swanky offices of insensitive folks devoid of ethical veracity. This is in sharp contrast to the ethos of our ancient sculptors who carved ballads out of stone.

Notwithstanding great scientific advances, it is a paradox that we have not learned appropriate lessons from the past, because our learning process today is bereft of a central power.

What is also lacking is our inability to promote local talent and institutions the kings of yore envisaged and bestowed leadership to.

Cultural systems are not computer programmes - they cannot be designed.

They must be harnessed and allowed to develop over time.

Language today seems to have brought a profound balance, a wonderful analogy between René Descartes and Albert Einstein - what with its subtle metaphor, silence. Besides, our language at present, does not, in anyway, reduce anything.

Instead, it now includes everything - scientific, or not. Yes, we have got to accept that there is a peculiar dualism at work here, with its profound analogy being obvious. We are now talking of concepts. We are talking of ideas. We are also talking of experiences, behaviours, sensations, intentions and feelings.

Most importantly, we are communicating ideas through our experiences and stories, too. And, the idea - language as likeness of the mind and the body - is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, critical to us all. It is, in other words, our own mind-body lexicon, with its own monumental feat of virtuosity, or vitality - a magical carpet of the narrative.

Nature has given us knowledge with a gauge to master composite things and complex systems. This provides us with more than adequate awareness - of who we are and what our universe, or essential information, means to us, provided we listen to our inner voice.

This includes the interconnectedness of all things, of relationships between things, the knowledge about things that mirror a divine strength and the all-pervading simplistic exquisiteness of nature's innumerable creations - including changing role models.

A version of this article appears in the print on September 5, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.