Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Mirror to the soul

It all started when I heard my brother being involved in some college scuffle which could have led to his suspension. We spoke about it and I told him, if you aren’t directly involved why don’t you just cut instead of being in the mess. His reply to that was, “we either stand together or sink together”. I dismissed it thinking it’s the young careless high-on-life blood speaking and not a sensible mind. I relayed this incident to a very dear friend of mine and was expecting some nice words expressing what the heck my brother was doing, ruining his life. Imagine my shock when he said, “You should be happy your brother has got his priorities right” Me, “ Priorities?!!!! What priorities!” He, “Principles! A man ought to have principles!.” I will be frank here and confess I didn’t quite fathom the depth of his meaning then but after giving it a thought and more importantly watching “Scent of a woman”, I do understand it now.

A person without principles is like a flower without its fragrance. He may be good to look at from the outside but there is no essence to him, an amputated spirit. Now a man of principle doesn’t mean one has to be a saint, but he adhers to certain moral/ethical calling and he stands by it no matter what. What is your ethics is decided by you. The one example that flashes before me when I talk about this is Haji Mastan, a Bombay gangster and smuggler in the 60s and 70s. While he was a crook but he had decided never to be involved in any bloodshed or killing of any type. Regardless of what temptation was offered he remained away from it and hence earned a lot of respect in his community and was known as the only Don who had principles (For further details read the book, Dongri to Dubai).

When we are in a corporate world, we see a lot of people compromising on their principles in order to climb that ladder of success. And they justify the act labeling it as diplomacy and imperative. As long as one is involved in the sweet syrupy talks, one that you know the other person wants to hear, its fine but the moment you unjustly downplay your colleagues and leak their personal lives to get that extra edge with your senior, its not diplomacy any more, it’s a pig rolling in the stinking filth. Well guys, I know I am the last person to talk about ethics and morals but nevertheless I think we should all strive to lead our life in a certain way and I don’t mean here to be perceived in a certain way by the society. I dont care a heck about the society and have landed in few potholes for speaking my mind out. But I don’t regret it. It’s better to be a person who can walk head high with few close friends rather than being a spineless animal amidst a crowd.

I end this by quoting another of my favorite dialogue from the movie, “there are two kinds of people in this world: those who stand up and face the music, and those who run for cover.”

Choose what you wanna be!

3 comments:

  1. you forgot to mention that the comment is followed by Al Pacino saying 'Cover is better' :P

    your post reminded me of an incident during my undergrad times. a similar case, like the one in the scent of a women, got me kicked out of the hostel for a few days. looking back, now i feel those were awesome days- that shaped my personality and resulted in great friendships. everyone of us involved in that incident have done decently in life and now we just laugh about that incident. but back then, we was terrified of the repercussions for a week.

    -Kats

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    Replies
    1. Kats,

      I din mention it cos dat time Colonel wasnt aware of the integrity of Charlie, hence he said cover is better but later he realizes that Charlie is a man of substance. In my reference Cover is better doesnt hold true! And yes,,, it is in incidents like these that solidarity and unity is tested which stays like an unbreakable bond for life time!

      -Mots

      Delete
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