The first stars are visible in the sky and it is time to chew the fat about the day that just passed by...
Voluntary morality!
Posted 2nd December 2007 at 02:31 AM by cheeniya
The other day I saw a limousine overtaking my humble car by cutting across the yellow line. As the car sped ahead of me, I saw its rear screen plastered with the logo of a famous international service organization. I could see a distinguished gentleman at the wheel having an animated conversation on his cell phone. I had the pleasure of meeting this gentleman later when I visited his club as a guest of a member there. I came to know that he was a senior member of the outfit in Chennai who usually addressed the members on the Objectives of the Organisation and allied subjects. On the particular day he was talking on Morality being the underlining principle of the Organisation. It was a thought provoking speech that drew a standing ovation on conclusion. He had more admiring glances thrown at him that day than any other Club luminary ever got on any given day. If the lights had gone off at that moment, we could have even seen a halo round his head. I was appalled by this spectacle of Sainthood thrust upon an unworthy man because I had witnessed this man breaking law on two counts on a single occasion. At my very first encounter with him, he had not only cut across the yellow line but was also using the cell phone while driving, both actions considered illegal in this part of the world. He was doing it right under the Logo of the Organisation that he so proudly displayed in his car.
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I recall what Lincoln Steffens had said about morality. He said “Morality is moral only when it is voluntary.” There are two kinds of law-abiding citizens in this country. A majority of us are law abiding only in the presence of law enforcement agency and the rest, which is a small percentage, are law-abiding in all situations. How often we respect traffic signals if there is no traffic or a policeman in sight? We drive in the wrong direction in one-way streets at dead of night telling ourselves it is beyond <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:time Hour="23" Minute="0">11 p.m.</st1:time> <o:p></o:p>
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I have seen some buildings with their compound walls painted with the pictures of gods to discourage the public from committing nuisance, which is an expression commonly used to refer to people who consider any open space as public toilet. I am told that the results of such an experiment are excellent though there are a few hardcore law-breakers who remain unmoved by such methods. The presence of his Club’s logo in his car and workplace should be as much of a deterrent to breaking laws as that of gods’ pictures on compound walls to people who consider the whole open world as a public toilet! Whether or not there is a traffic cop around or there is total absence of any traffic, the sheer presence of the logo should dissuade him from breaking the law of the land, however minor the offence may be. <o:p></o:p>
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I recall what Lincoln Steffens had said about morality. He said “Morality is moral only when it is voluntary.” There are two kinds of law-abiding citizens in this country. A majority of us are law abiding only in the presence of law enforcement agency and the rest, which is a small percentage, are law-abiding in all situations. How often we respect traffic signals if there is no traffic or a policeman in sight? We drive in the wrong direction in one-way streets at dead of night telling ourselves it is beyond <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:time Hour="23" Minute="0">11 p.m.</st1:time> <o:p></o:p>
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I have seen some buildings with their compound walls painted with the pictures of gods to discourage the public from committing nuisance, which is an expression commonly used to refer to people who consider any open space as public toilet. I am told that the results of such an experiment are excellent though there are a few hardcore law-breakers who remain unmoved by such methods. The presence of his Club’s logo in his car and workplace should be as much of a deterrent to breaking laws as that of gods’ pictures on compound walls to people who consider the whole open world as a public toilet! Whether or not there is a traffic cop around or there is total absence of any traffic, the sheer presence of the logo should dissuade him from breaking the law of the land, however minor the offence may be. <o:p></o:p>
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Total Comments 17
Comments
 |  I loved your title, Le C !Yes, morality has to come from within and cannot be thrust on one by rules and regulations.In that case, it vanishes the next second. I think the saying Padikkarathu ramayanam Idikkirathu Perumal kovil is very true in the case of many people. Your line If the lights had gone off at that moment, we could have even seen a halo round his head. is very enjoyable that I feel tempted to say Humour, do you have another name Cheeniya ? Your are educating by your posts very subtly but enjoyably. Love, La C. |
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| |  Dear Sri, I tend to agree with you... The MGR's great song... Thirudani parthu thiruntha vittal thiruttai ozhikka mudiyathu.... Yes, the morality should come from with in... We cannot force others to follow the morals... But... Rules/regulations... We can force it on... For that to be effective, the punishment for breaking the rules should be stingent and unbiased... This will give a fear psychosis... Classic example... Singapore for cleanliness... Australia/Newzealand for the environmental... It again goes back to the law enforcing agencies.... But India... Money is the law... If we have money, we can buy and do anything... Law will always be in our side... So people with money and power think and act they are above the law... Under these circumstances.... Morality has to come from ones own self... |
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| |  Dear Chithra Thank you for your nice words. About padikkarathu Raamaayanam, you must have observed that the dreaded dacoits of Chambal Valley are the most God-fearing and considerable portion of hundi collections in Temples come from people who dont earn them the legal way! The forest bandit Veerappan had even built a temple in his hide-out! Sri |
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| | Dear Veda Enforcing law through stringent punishment may be effective in ensuring that law and order situation in the country is always maintained in top gear but it does not, per se`, have any effect on the morality of the individual if it is not an in-born quality. I know a Singapore national by name Abdul Jabbar who visits Chennai regularly. He always brags about the cleanliness of Singapore and tells me that if anyone is found spitting on the road there, he'll be fined $100 on the spot for the first time. After saying all that, he'll spit on the portico of the Chennai Airport and continue his lecture on the merits of the Singapore law enforcement agency punctuating it with few more bouts of spitting! Sri |
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| | Dear Sri, I can only laugh... I fully agree with you.... What I wanted to convey was that element of fear will make them little more watchful.... I always used to wonder... When Indians go to other countries they follow the rules and regulations strictly.... But when they come back to India they forget all those things and get mingled with the others... This includes me also... Is this called the "Mannin Magimai"... hahahahahaha... |
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| | Dear Veda You hit the nail on its head, buddy! Mannin magimai is the right diagnosis! Kudos to you! Sri |
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| | Veda, I think......It is as much Nam Mannil Naam edukkum Urimai as is Mannin Magimai. We are on our best behaiour when we go out, prim & proper etc. When we get home, we just unwind & let ourselves go ! Love, Chithra. |
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| | Your point is well taken, Chithra But the question is why is this desire to unwind more marked in the Orient than in the West? Why no one including the bhoomiputra unwinds in places like Singapore(in spite of being in the East!) ? |
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| | Sri, I think.....particularly in South India ( I am not very familiar with N I customs), we are not fastidious about formalities, not that we are not formal, but I would say less formal. I do not think, the phrases Thankyou, Please etc which we "sprinkle liberally" in our conversation now, were very often used at all. I feel, expressions were different.I would call that also unwinding ! We were thankful ( or sorry) at heart, as the case may be, but were not eloquent about our expressions.Perhaps it dates back to our customs? - I am not sure ! In our early years of marriage, it used to surprise me, if Vish used to say Thankyou to me, even for his morning coffee ! Well, about places like S'pore I am not competent to talk at all, having never moved out of Chennai. I realise, I am deviating from your main topic ! So,  Love, Chithra. |
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| | Very GKC! And now I would expand GKC as G.K.Cheeniya! Loving the term 'voluntary morality'.I suppose I fall in the category of the 'reflexive morality' group. Your key note speaker was just doing what many do. Not practicing what he preaches. I know of a roaring voluntary service organisation with much rules, morals and fellowship. Sadly, we once happened to see a Tata Sumo knocking down a young man while trying to speed a red light. And then racing away not stoopping to take him to the hospital. The irony was, while the car sped past, the rear window had a decal which upheld the moral service values of that organisation. This is but the way of the world. |
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| | Nice choice of subject for making one think.. Voluntary morality indeed is the only way people could raise their dignity and stand high apart from the normal crowd.. I think as human beings, we should use our own judgement to decide whether or not to execute an action. Only babies need to be told not to do something, because they are still ignorant of the aftermaths. Also, some of the seemingly harmless & actually harmless break-the-rule activities donot prick any more because it is done so much often - I would think the cellphone & crossing yellow line would probably belong to this category. I guess this is what happened to the notable guest of honour, though I would still like to believe & hope that within the organization he never stepped on anyone's shoulders or risked someone's else's life/career to go up the hierarchy. |
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| | Dear Vidya PGW and GKC are two writers who command my greatest admiration and respect. I feel overawed by their sheer mastery over the language. Your calling me 'GK Cheeniya' is perhaps the greatest praise that I have received for my humble writing skills. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Practising what one preaches is becoming increasingly more difficult and perhaps that's why we see so many breaches! All these stickers of these charitable organisations have come to be regarded as some kind of social recognition. We cant expect these stickers to instil any more sense of discipline than what people are born with! Sri |
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| | Dear Gayu "Voluntary morality indeed is the only way people could raise their dignity and stand high apart from the normal crowd" That's indeed well said! I agree with you that there is a certain amount of laxity in observing rules that we are prepared to wink over. The laxity itself has no definite boundaries. It may be minimum in the cases of people in high positions but quite substantial in the case of a common man. And getting used to minor breaches may eventually goad us to commit greater ones with a feeling of impunity! Sri |
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| | Dear Sri That was a very interesting narrative...I just hope the senior member of the organization gets to see this blog. It is very very true that we loose respect for such people. Gayathri. |
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| | Dear Gayathri Thank you for your comment. Let alone our losing respect for such people, they lose their self-respect too! I guess that respect is not in the agenda of such people at all! Sri |
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| |  Dear Cheeniya sir, A very valued point. Quote: If the lights had gone off at that moment, we could have even seen a halo round his head I liked this sentence very much. Often we see, people preach so many things but when it somes to personal issues they say "rules are meant to be broken". Even the so called NRI as soon as they touch the motherland, they spit, commit nuisance etc on the road  There should be a conscious effort from each individual and men (no offences meant) are the worst in lacking civic sense.We have a residential school in my neighbourhood. We just cannot walk past the building without closing our nostrils imagine the plight of the kids. The school suthorities decided to put tiles of gods on the compound walls but till date the same is still continuing!!!!!!!!!! |
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| |  Dear Mr.CheeniyaDear cheeniya sir, That was well said.This post of yours evokes so many thoughts in me. Sometimes I wonder whether laws were made only for the poor so that petty thieves could be punished and dragged on the road,be pelted with stones by the angry mob,while greater thieves flourish and enjoy adulation and bigger rewards in public life. As I am penning this to you,my dear Sir,my husband is sitting in the hall glued to the TV where supporters of various parties proclaim ,"We have got so many number of MPs with us" etc.It is an open secret that MPs are being sold and are willing to be sold.What moral right do we have to tell the youngsters ,to be honest and be conscientious and all.Murderers and convicts are happily and proudly presenting themselves,or I would rather say,preening themselves before the entire nation and our national leaders some of whom have impeccable records as honest politicians whose integru\ity is of the highest order can not do anything,they smile sheepishly. I do not know if what I have written is in relevance to the pointed question you have raised,this issue was in my mind and you have given me an opportunity to share my thoughts with you. Regards mithila kannan |
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