For the past some time the news papers have been reporting regularly on some worthy or the other having said something which hurt some feelings. Some people have to express themselves on every matter under the sun. For them silence is not golden but stifling. This is usually the cause of 'Foot & Mouth' disease in the homo sapiens where the speaker shoots himself/herself in the foot. We have been bestowed with many , so called, qualities that we may not be aware of. It takes others to point that out to us, like Jamwant, the mythical figure, had to remind the venerable Hanuman of his powers. While searching for Sita, consort of Lord Rama, Hanuman was required to cross the sea in one jump to Lanka but got nervous and was not sure that he could do it. At that time Jamwant reminded him of his eternal strength.
Coming to the modern times, much the same way, it was an editorial in a Chinese daily that reminded us of some of our qualities. The said editorial pointed out that we are 'spoiled', 'self-centered', 'self-righteous', 'tantrum-throwers' etc. etc. We are well within our rights to differ from their assessment but there is some ring of truth how others see us. And there is another, so called quality that is part of our persona, 'Arrogance'. We talk so much of our glorious past but our present-day behavior leaves much to be desired. The typical response to the said editorial voiced by some was a call to boycott the Chinese good coming into the country. Let us admit that many of such goods are so affordable to even to the common man and the quality is not all that bad. Even the multinational corporations are having their products made in that country. Take for instance the much-coveted electronic goods including cameras, mobile phones etc. The proper response would have been a call to the industry to make better consumer goods at the same affordable price in this country. That would be a befitting reply to our critics. We have achieved a lot in diverse fields but we can do still better.
We are not happy following rules either. Violating traffic rules, jumping queues comes easy to us. Travelling to other lands we are not comfortable following the security protocol of the host country especially at the airports and other ports of entry. We do not realize that their rules are the same for everybody, even their own citizens. But we want to be treated differently especially if he/she happens to be VIP or from the political class because that is how we are treated in this country. Here if a rule is to be applied, such as paying toll, a long list of persons exempted is the first to be put in place. You have only to go to a toll plaza to verify this. The very people who should lead by example are first to defy the rules. We see it every day.
Are we really like this ? Deciding what others can read, write, or see. What profession others can pursue or what they can or cannot eat ? An unwritten code of conduct for the less privileged ! Intolerance for for contrary views and social and religious practices ! Are we really like this or do we need to change ! Honestly we need to sit down and do some soul searching and if we come up short we must strive to be better than this. We do not need to be the way we are.
Coming to the modern times, much the same way, it was an editorial in a Chinese daily that reminded us of some of our qualities. The said editorial pointed out that we are 'spoiled', 'self-centered', 'self-righteous', 'tantrum-throwers' etc. etc. We are well within our rights to differ from their assessment but there is some ring of truth how others see us. And there is another, so called quality that is part of our persona, 'Arrogance'. We talk so much of our glorious past but our present-day behavior leaves much to be desired. The typical response to the said editorial voiced by some was a call to boycott the Chinese good coming into the country. Let us admit that many of such goods are so affordable to even to the common man and the quality is not all that bad. Even the multinational corporations are having their products made in that country. Take for instance the much-coveted electronic goods including cameras, mobile phones etc. The proper response would have been a call to the industry to make better consumer goods at the same affordable price in this country. That would be a befitting reply to our critics. We have achieved a lot in diverse fields but we can do still better.
We are not happy following rules either. Violating traffic rules, jumping queues comes easy to us. Travelling to other lands we are not comfortable following the security protocol of the host country especially at the airports and other ports of entry. We do not realize that their rules are the same for everybody, even their own citizens. But we want to be treated differently especially if he/she happens to be VIP or from the political class because that is how we are treated in this country. Here if a rule is to be applied, such as paying toll, a long list of persons exempted is the first to be put in place. You have only to go to a toll plaza to verify this. The very people who should lead by example are first to defy the rules. We see it every day.
Are we really like this ? Deciding what others can read, write, or see. What profession others can pursue or what they can or cannot eat ? An unwritten code of conduct for the less privileged ! Intolerance for for contrary views and social and religious practices ! Are we really like this or do we need to change ! Honestly we need to sit down and do some soul searching and if we come up short we must strive to be better than this. We do not need to be the way we are.
It is so true. Nice to read wise words.
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modern man is slave to his desires. He is high class hypocrat. We should be striving for high level of living and not high standard of living. High level of living means ---morality ,humility ,compassion and detachment
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