Being honest is the perpetual fight between mind and soul. Inner self forbids doing what is not good, mind looks into the practical aspect of life. In most cases mind wins. Perhaps present day materialistic life justifies such issues.
HONESTY IS defined as a state or quality of being honest (free from fraud, upright, just, sincere, candid, virtuous) integrity, candor, truth. While describing someone or ourselves as honest we forget that it is rather impossible to be truly honest.
One of my friend, a chartered accountant, once told me that he keeps some cash in the open drawers or in kitchen self which is not only handy while paying certain bills or asking the servant to get something from the market but also for testing the integrity of the servant. It may be difficult for a person to break open a locker but it will be quite easy for him to pinch some money or jewellery lying unguarded. Honest people do not take advantage of situations whatever may be the gains.
The issue is the perpetual fight between mind and soul. Inner self forbids doing what is not good, mind looks into the practical aspect of life. In most cases mind wins. Perhaps present day materialistic life justifies such issues. May be these are not the issues at all.
Let us start from the beginning of our adulthood as the childhood can be spared for reasons of lack of experience or understanding of various aspects of honest life. Grabbing out of turn or unjustified benefits be it not standing in the queue or backdoor entries for our personal or official gains, being part of some fraud, reaching office late or leaving early on false pretexts, remaining politically correct in the face of injustice to a fellow worker, pinching office stationary, submitting inflated tour bills, accepting or expecting gifts from suppliers, bribing the system for speeding up our official work in order to gain a few points of performance awards. There can be hundreds of examples of our working life when we did not really look honest.
Outside our working life, situation is no better. We do not follow the traffic rules, do not pay our taxes and become a part of the corrupt system. The glaring example is the avoidance of stamp duty by undervaluing the property purchased. It is well known that the builders ask for 50 per cent cash. Many a time receipt is not taken for purchases to avoid sales tax. Every time the excuse is ‘others too are doing it and if we do not fall in line we will not survive’.
Is it that remaining honest in present day society really impossible? Should we therefore, change the definition of honesty? Should bribery be legalised? Should some premium be charged legally on out of turn allotment of tickets, passports and many other such things in the same way as tatkal railway ticket or passport or cooking gas connection?
Is it rather true that we are dishonest because we are human? I do not think animals have the concept of honesty. They have only one rule, might is right. Since physical might be able to have started street violence we invented financial or intellectual might to score over others. With the process of time people with financial or intellectual might got their tools sharpened and became more and more successful.
It looks honesty is for preaching others and not for self practicing. It seems true because in spite of centuries of preaching society is struggling with fraud, untruths, and injustice. It is something like a notice board in front a juice center proclaiming ‘drinking strictly prohibited’ but you can find people mixing their drinks with the juice supplied by the center right in front of the shop and enjoying in full glare of all standing around. The notice board is more of an invitation to buy juice to mix with drinks. By describing what is considered dishonest and stay away from such practices, the opposite seems to be happening. People are learning more tricks to be smart.
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