Waning empathy, rising apathy: we are turning into zombies

The year 2023 opened with the horror in Delhi, which cannot be missed as a symptom of our degrading moral values and absolute disregard for others’ well-being and life itself. A 20-year-old woman, working with an events company and riding back home after a New Year’s event, was rammed by a car with five men. Her body was dragged over several kilometres from Sultanpuri – where the accident took place – to Kanjhawala, a distance of about ten kilometres.

Their arrest is little consolation in the face of the horrendous crime. Despite being aware that they had knocked her down, the accused – said to be under the influence of alcohol – preferred to drive on than check on her well-being. In their statements to the police, they claimed to have assumed that the victim just “got up and left” after the collision and that they realised her body had got stuck to their vehicle’s undercarriage when they “felt a drag” after driving a fair distance. Equally shocking is the victim’s friend deserting her when she needed her the most.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena reacted through a tweet, saying he was “shocked at the monstrous insensitivity of the perpetrators” and that his “head hangs in shame over the inhuman crime”. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “It is a rarest of rare crimes. I don’t know where society is heading...” It’s time we realised where our society is heading – into a zone where empathy is waning, where apathy and indifference are rising. It is rampant in our country where people fallen by the roadside get no second glances. They are almost always assumed to have fallen drunk and ignored. A lack of empathy within society is far more dangerous than any external threat. Society exists for individuals and groups to help each other. Without empathy, we are just zombies with a singular focus away from mutual well-being.

Author Mitch Albom scores a point here, citing his old professor Morrie Schwartz in his book Tuesdays With Morrie: “So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they are doing things they think are important … The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”