Do your Karma
These past few days a few of my family and friends read what I had to say about the Mumbai blasts, the resilience of its people and the resignation of Mr. Patil. They were of the view that I have said what everybody is crying themselves hoarse over, and haven’t really said anything which is a revelation.
I was pondering over what I had written and I realized that the one message that I wanted to convey was for society to be proactive at an individual level and that it seems somehow did not get communicated effectively.
I know the easiest task in the world is to be a critic, and we in this country have taken this to a level of obsession. We all consider this to be one of our fundamental rights. Though I have to admit that I have succumbed to the lure of being a critic in these write ups but my only objective is not to be a critic of the system or of the people who manage them. I was also trying to put my finger on our mindset and attitude at an individual level. We in this country don’t hesitate from doing whatever it takes to achieve personal ends, but criticize others without a qualm when they do something similar. The point I was trying to make was that it is high time we look inwards.
We need to ask ourselves some serious questions and promise to answer them as honestly as we can, before we earn ourselves a right to be a critic or before we absolve ourselves of the mess that we are in as a society, as a people and as a nation. Do we do in our personal lives what we expect the leaders to do in their public life? How many of us can with their head held high, claim, that their personal conduct is an embodiment of honesty, integrity and compassion? Are we diligently doing what we are expected to or paid for to do or what we expect other to do in the same role? Do we do our duties in various roles that we play e.g. a citizen, an employer, an employee, a mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter, and above all a human being? I am sure a lot of us would not be able to answer these questions in the affirmative and if I am right then do you think we have a right to raise an accusing finger towards others for dereliction of their duty. We are very familiar with this behavior, aren’t we? This unfortunately has become our national trait. We as a people are facing a huge character crisis in this country, and lack moral courage and therefore any moral right to put anybody down for not doing their task sincerely.
Taking your roles seriously whatever they might be is a habit which needs to be inculcated and nurtured with great pains, its a samskar we need to teach our kids by not telling stories but by being role models, its an attitude that develops over a period of time and a culture that evolves in the society as a result of individual efforts made at every step of your life.
It might already be too late for us to wake up and we need to move on without losing a single moment. Lets all begin by promising ourselves that we all on our individual level shall make a start by doing our roles in different capacities with as much sincerity and honesty as we expect people in public life to do.
