Isn’t it true that we all look forward to meeting and befriending principled and Morally Upright people that have no undesirable attributes and traits such as disrespectful attitude, irreverence, bad temper, conceited, greed, sleaze, sloth, corruption, debauchery, prurience, stubbornness, inflexibility, hypocrisy etc. among many more? The reality is that both desirable as well as undesirable attributes are the two sides of the same coin and therefore each person is a manifestation of both of these qualities, some being good and others bad.

Each person is a complex mix of these contrasting attributes, though their relative mix could be different. What matters ultimately is the relative balance between the two. However, it is purely human psychology that we seem to attach a higher weight to bad traits than the good ones because the viciousness of the negative and the undesirable traits far exceeds the goodness of a few desirable ones. Due to their egregious nature, the negative traits are highly potent that even a single negative trait, an activity or an event can expunge or obliterate all the positive traits as well as the entire body of good work of a thousand years just as one single match stick can burn down the entire forest comprising numerous trees. We all are aware that we live in Kalyug, the name given to the present times in Hindu mythology, therefore what we observe all around us is the general and gradual erosion of virtues, values and principles and simultaneous emergence of viciousness within ourselves. Having said that, I am not at all justifying or glorifying the act of marked degradation in our character and personality that we see all around us today. It is a reality that honesty is no more the best policy in the present times. It seems that today, the humanity is drifting towards darker ages where there is actually a dearth of good and virtuous people. At least this is what I make out from the news that we get bombarded with on a daily basis, for example cases of corruption, embezzlement, sexual misdemeanors, dereliction of duty, terrorism, violence reaffirm that all is not right. If this information is extrapolated into the future there is a high probability of you meeting lesser and lesser good people in your daily life as days go by. In fact, finding such people will be a big challenge, no matter where you are, in whichever part of the world. There seems to be an all pervasive and over powering feeling of degradation of human values and impeachment of character. There seems to be a rising sense of materialism and moral turpitude taking precedence over ‘goodness of soul’. People are forever busy in the pursuit of money rather than cultivating good values and morality. The one-way street to riches and wealth is a ‘mad race’ that appears to be interminable. Every single individual finds himself standing alone in this world, though he may have thousands WhatsApp contacts but no heart-to-heart connections with any of them. You can count the number of real or fast friends on your fingertips in a few seconds. You might have to strain your mind too much to make an abortive attempt to extend this list.

In our childhood our parents, elders and teachers told us to do all the righteous things and shun bad ones. They stressed the importance of being ethical and moral in no less words. They went to any extent to inculcate good habits and behavior in their children. On their part, children never overruled or questioned them challenging their authority as they considered their elders with veneration and held them in high esteem and obeyed them unconditionally. The children rarely talked back at them or in loud voice. Nowadays swearing and cussing anyone and everyone is a norm not an anomaly. If you want a live example of how much things have changed you do not have to look too far. Just look at how your child behaves in your absence. Does he or she behave the same at your back as he or she does in front of you? Under the watchful eyes of its parents a child behaves differently while he or she may not behave the same way when the parents are not around. When the school authorities bring the acts of students to the knowledge of the parents the first reaction in one of disbelief. It may be an eye opener for some of you and I sincerely hope I am proved wrong on this count. Can you make out what awaits you in the future?

[Also Read: Diminishing values – honesty is no more the best policy]

A person normally seen as Incorruptible may not have indulged in any immoral and corrupt act and to think that he or she would remain that way is a naïve assumption. My assessment says that a person remains incorruptible till he she does not get a chance to perpetuate corruption. When a person occupies an office of profit or a vantage position and as soon as the first opportunity presents itself, the person gives up his ‘incorruptible image’ tag and jumps neck deep in the quagmire. Numerous examples indicate that only at the first instance does he or she might have felt a little awkward but soon afterwards becomes inveterate and even incorrigible later on. It is just a matter of breaking the image once and crossing the first threshold limit and then it becomes his habit. Isn’t this how degradation of society occurs? Greed for making a fast buck is what pushes people into the throes of depravity and venal thoughts. When one falls into the abyss of deceit and corrupt practices there is no coming back, on the contrary the fall hastens over time. 

When you are looking for a matrimonial match for your sister or a brother, you want a saintly person having no bad qualities and habits. In essence you are searching for an ideal person? Just for the sake of argument, compare yourself with the person that you are looking for, the one who is perfect in every sense? Is it not ironical that we are trying to look for someone whom we are least likely to resemble? Where do you stand in comparison? I myself might not be incorruptible but want an incorruptible match for my sister or a brother. How morally upright are we?

[Also Read: Delayed gratification – thumb rule for happiness] 

You think yourself to be incorruptible but when the situation presents itself before you, what choices would you exercise? Will you still remain the same incorruptible person or will you choose the shortcut path to riches and become corrupt just like any other person? Does this not call for deep rumination and a bit of self-introspection?