‘Honesty is the best policy’ or so we tell our children often. There is a lot our value system is left craving for and honesty being so abstract, defining the actual parameters is quite difficult to say the least. Every abstract term, like love, joy, peace etc. can only be learnt and explained by example or by modelling certain behaviours. What is extremely sad however, is that finding actual examples of exemplary models of honesty is becoming way too difficult.
When we look at any sphere, we notice that the largest evil plaguing our lives is the dishonesty that has mushroomed around and become common place in our lives. It has become such a habit that we have begun to actually expect and anticipate it wherever we are and in every context as well.
Gone are the days where people would look on in shocked disbelief when a story of corruption was being narrated. Now, it’s common place, part of the very fabric that makes this country what it is. Is this the legacy we want to leave behind for the generations to come? And the scary reality, have we already done enough damage to actually seal our fate? We are constantly pointing our fingers outward to highlight how things should not be, the actual struggle lies in the act of identifying what part we ourselves play in this dance of a dishonest kind.
Each one of us has been put in a position where we have had to make certain choices and the choices we have made have not always been the most appropriate ones. Yes, we are all allowed our occasional slips, because let’s face it, we are all human. Habit formation is actually when we find ourselves in a chronic spiral, an oblivious spiral, when we are completely unaware of how we are being sucked into a life on the wrong side.
Walking into many offices where official paperwork needs to be done is quite a treat. From the lax attitudes that greet us to the greasy palms the beckon us is an actual reflection of how far we are willing to go to save this magical thing called time. A few tenner’s here and a few hundred there isn’t such a big deal right? Oh well, a few hundred is all it actually takes.
I always thought the word development meant only positive change. Getting bigger, better, faster, more productive. However, every step forward does create by-products. The industrial revolution led to a whole new face to the world. It was development at a feverish pitch and no, we haven’t slowed down even a tiny bit. With every new creation came the want for it, want turned into desire and then finally obsession. The obsession of having it all and attaining it all. We all want a better life. The difference with getting where you want to go is in the difference between what you ‘want’ and what you actually ‘need’. Now, the desire for a life of comfort has taken our value system and made that a commodity which can be bought and sold as well.
Honesty is truthfulness of word and deed. Take a hypothetical situation. A student is preparing for his/her examinations. As he/she is doing research at school, he/she stumbles upon something that looks like a question paper of an impending examination. Right there he/she has multiple choices open up right before his/her eyes. The student could copy the paper and use it to get good marks, make a copy to distribute for money, he/she could just be friendly and share it with all classmates or he/she could find someone in authority and report what he/she found immediately, thus ensuring that if that the examination paper could be changed and a fair assessment of the learning could be conducted at a later date.
Yes, I know, there are plenty of you who probably thought to yourself, why did the teacher leave a copy there in the first place? And if it was there open for public viewing and usage, why not? And what if he/she did distribute it among his/her bubbies? At least everyone would benefit right? Everything has a purpose, everything as a goal.
Examinations are held to identify strengths and weaknesses to work on, cheating thus would defeat the purpose of exams. In much the same way, those ever so helpful ladies and gentlemen who look so bored behind their desks have chosen as their job to get your work done. No matter what the attitude they throw in there, it is actually their job and you have no obligation to add to their income. It is the duty of a student to report dishonesty. In ever sphere of life we need to remember always, that the cheat is always caught. Honesty is the best policy! Yes, it is also the only policy when it comes to success in the true sense.
