Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Being responsible to self and society

No one is perfect in this world. This statement is being used more of an excuse these days. Around us the world has changed so much. We have improved amazingly in areas of science and tech, Knowledge, Awareness and education. But have we, as people, grown? Have we improved as human beings? Have we endeavored to change our life styles, our habits and our irresponsible acts? The answer from an honest perspective must be NO. There is this brilliant quote, "Be the change u wish to see". In essence this means we have to change ourselves for the world to change.

Socially irresponsible people and mindsets abound in this country of ours. Every day scandals and acts that bring shame to us all collectively keep cropping up. We say individuals are responsible for the filthy and unhygienic atmosphere in the Common wealth Games village, but how many of us have had the habit of making public places dirty? A general mindset prevails among all of us, which lets us blame others for anything and everything. The CWG village may be a different case, but one that all of us can dwell deep into and introspect.

It is time we all reformed into responsible people. Intrinsic discipline is the need of the hour. Let’s stop spitting in public places. One will turn into many and soon there will be a lot less people doing such despicable acts. Of course the world will not change just because we have, but surely we would have contributed to the reduction in no. of ppl doing it.

How many of us still drive in roads with HIGH BEAMS? Do we understand the difficulty a fellow driver will face? The high beams are unnecessary on city roads, they practically blind the oncoming drivers and it’s a nightmare for people wearing glasses. But how do we care eh? Ask yourself, dear reader, do you even know, now, if ur vehicle's head light is in high beam or low beam?? Can u answer immediately?? If u r aware of the answer, then introspection is easier. If not, u need to think twice.

Have we ever, tried to use less plastic? Ever tried carrying fruits or vegetables without a plastic cover? Ever gone to a shop carrying a worn out cloth bag? No right? Y not? Cos our image will get a hit. how will it look if an IT professional like me carries an old bag to a shop? Right?  I know i am striking a cord inside u dear reader. Just imagine how we are. Our preferences and our priorities are mostly selfish and never do we care about the society.  

Then there is this extremely bad habit of many vehicle drivers. The signal violations. We see there is an isolated signal and the digital meter says more than ten seconds. What do we do??  We tell ourselves why should i waste 10+ seconds of my precious time for nothing and we just violate the signal and jump it. If its less than ten seconds, we tell ourselves, Ha! Jus 9 odd seconds, y stand here unnecessarily, right? (If it is exactly 10 we wait till it becomes 8 or 7 and then go on) How pathetic! When we don follow our own rules, who will?? We are the reason our society is going to the dogs everyday. The worst part is, none of us even care or think twice about all these and never do we try to bring in a change.

For all these arguments there is just one return question, "If I change, will the world change"? Right? But, is that the point dear reader? There is something called self satisfaction. Ever tried being responsible to self and society? Ever driven a bike in low beam even wen, thru the whole drive, u curse the oncoming vehicle's driver for blinding u completely? Ever resisted the urge to spit on the roads and waited till u got home? Ever taken or accepted responsibilities for the way u have stood silent and watched the society go off course???

I have done it all. And I can vouch for you, the feeling is "Contentment". I always drive in LOW BEAM. I have always made it a point to never spit on roads. Never do I go for a plastic bag, unless i just cannot avoid it and i know within me, I can still contribute towards bringing about a change.. I could create awareness, appeal to people, try and be the change i want to see always. In this article if you read again u will realize i have always used WE, even though i have constantly tried to be more responsible. I accept. We have to do more. Work more; try to intrinsically change our own practices.

This post maybe ignored by you. People may say this is such a big, boring, useless sermon. But if ONE, at least one person switches to LOW BEAM tonight, my endeavor will be a successful one. Just for having tried, thru this post, I will sleep more peacefully tonight… So long folks, Have a great week ahead. Cheers

6 comments:

  1. I honestly follow the rules mentioned above machi...
    I even obey lane traffic n get scolded in bad words here for tat...
    But no use in india.
    Here ppl hav absolutely no road sense and even the pedestrians have no road sense...
    Its the time for ppl to change for the good...

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  2. Hey first of all i wanna thank rags to post such a sensible nd worthy blog.i had two feelings after reading this blog
    1.i felt very bad that why ppl r nt aware of these things nd some are doing such things knowing that its nt gud.
    2.i really felt very happy that atleast one among us had contributed to create awareness abt these things.
    Buddy,this must spread awareness and i will do my best to make changes..
    Finally a quote fr u(copied but gud one..lol)
    "An idea can change your life"

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  3. This is a superb article Raghavan. The message is good.
    I just want to put a "like" to one of your lines here.. "Contentment" is what you get when you do such wonderful acts helping improve your society. Yes, I do follow all of the above you've said here. Now, I should say a few things here.. I don't throw even a bus ticket, don't throw a water packet on the road, don't spit. This I could do for two full years. And I'll continue all my life. Guys, you may think I'm just talking unnecessarily or boasting myself. But you know, I'm proud of this. I just thought of MJ's song here.. "If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change"... so... Be the change!
    and keep them coming Raghavan.. keep going

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  4. super da:):)good one...yup we should definitely improve....as far as spitting, other hygienic issues and following traffic rules are concerned, we need to take the example of some foreign countries...

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  5. hey rags... nice blog man... i wish many of them see this blog and change themselves... also the world... so that v can avoid all unhygienic issues.. ur blog brings awareness to all of us... keep going da.. :)

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  6. your endeavor will be a successful one.no doubt of it .keep going ......... have the same spirit :-):-)

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