Being a responsible citizen

(Text of the Talk given at SDM INSTITUTE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT, MYSORE - 570 011 on 09-06-2011)

 At the outset my sincere thanks to the Organizer’s especially Prof.Govinda Sharma for extending this courtesy to me to come and talk to you on “Being responsible citizens”. I am happy to talk on the subject as I feel today “Being a responsible citizen “is more relevant and significant than ever .What I am going to do is to share my thoughts on the subject with you in the next 45 Minutes.

What does “being responsible” mean? Being responsible varies from individual to individual. You may feel it is a relative term. If you look at the Dictionary it may mean the following.

o   Being Accountable

o   Able to make moral or rational decisions on one's own and therefore answerable for one's behavior.

o   Able to be trusted or depended upon; reliable.

If you scan the daily you can read many, many instances of Irresponsible acts and one really feel outrageous sometimes. Majority of us feel that way. Let’s take today’s headline of Mysore. Two wild elephants losing their way, entered in to the city. They made visit to college, shopping malls before they paralysed the normal life. Those who have seen the TV footage certainly would have watched the citizens, residents literally chasing the elephants on the street, terrorizing, throwing stones etc. What followed up was ransack of the tuskers and Poor Renukaswamy (ATM Watchman) was killed in front of many witnesses. Was it expected from the crowd? Is this not an act of irresponsible behavior of the crowd? Had the crowd stayed indoor or at least alerted other fellowmen one life could have been saved.

It is a different story that the event though was reported at 0630 Hrs. the trained staff came after nearly two hours.

Responsibility may mean so many other things but to me it means “Being Legally Right, Socially concerned, and Morally Correct”.

Certainly we cannot term any one or any act which is contrary to the rule or law. The law or rule may be your countries’, your organizations or your own .The law may be a well-defined one or matter of practice or custom. Some people may have their own set of rules. I have inherited a golden rule from my father-in-law who had learned from his father. The rule is that if you have to borrow money from someone (Better avoid as far as possible) and you can repay it in a month then ask for a 45 days to repay. You will definitely pay in 30 days but still have a margin of 15 days for any unforeseen. In this way you can never default and earn the displeasure of the gentleman who gave money to you.

Law abiding is golden. In our training centre we have a dress code for the trainees and they have to be in formal dress during the class .Yet during every session, at least half a dozen trainees have to be picked up for this lapse and reminded.

Yesterday newspapers carried news “PM Reminds MPS to declare Assets”. When there is a code of conduct and it warrants declaration of assets then why it has to be reminded.

World Health Organization has revealed in its first ever Global Status Report on Road Safety that more people die in road accidents in India than anywhere else in the world, including the more populous China. The statistics for India are chilling. At least 13 people die every hour in road accidents in the country. Why speeding, drinking-driving and low use of helmets, seat belts not following the rule.

Paying scant attention to law or rule has become a curse of the society today. You make any rule and implement, there will always be people who either break or does not follow. The amount of pressure behind you in the traffic signal to start the vehicle well before the green signal is simply irritating and at times if you can’t withstand the pressure you will be forced to violate the traffic rule.

If this attitude towards well established law, then not to speak of nicety and courtesies. Don’t you feel to remind of courtesy and nicety during deplaning from the first class cabin of the aero plane or while waiting for your turn in the ATM?
Long ago I was one among the thirty odd civil servants group that went to Japan. Not to talk of the attitude of Japanese towards punctuality, yet some of the members routinely turning up late put the rest of the members in embarrassment. And it was nice to watch the Japanese attitude towards punctuality.
I feel one should have the courage to follow the rule even though there is no compulsion. (Something like wait and crossing the traffic signal at odd hour say Middle of night and when there is no traffic.)

The second dimension of Responsibility is socially committed or concerned. One should be friendly, nice to the society. So much has been said in the media about Bill gates and Warren Buffet‘s involvement to the social cause. We all know Bill gates for his business brain, as Chairman of Microsoft and for his wealth. But the other face of Bill gates as Philanthropist and founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is really laudable. Can you imagine he had let all his fortune to go to the Charity leaving even their offspring to survive on their own?  Gates said of the decision that he and his wife made, "We want to give it back to society in the way that it will have the most positive impact?" Buffet too joining hand with Gates now perusing the Billionaires across the globe to donate their half of the net worth during their life time for social cause. These are the instances in a big way.

To give back to society  what we need is  a “BIG HEART” and not to be really rich or great wealth . All what we need isI will narrate an incident to highlight how a Big Heart makes the difference.

Sometime ago, when the ice-creams were not so expensive, a ten-year old boy went to Nirula’s ice-cream shop. While sitting at the table, he asked the waiter,

“How much does a Sundae cost?” Rs.40,”he replied. The boy took out his money from the pocket and began counting it.. “Well, how much does a simple ice-cream cost?".

There were other people waiting to be served, so the waiter began to get a little impatient.

“Rs. 30!" he replied abruptly. The boy counted his money again and said: “Please get me a simple ice-cream!" The waiter served him the ice-cream and his bill. The boy ate his ice-cream, paid his bill at the cash counter and left.

When the waiter went to clean the table he began to cry… for there, in the corner of the plate,

Was Rs 10 … his tip? The boy took a simple ice-cream instead of a Sundae so he could leave a tip for him.

Giving back to society need not be in the form of Money always.

I read this news in the newspaper two days back .This is a real incident happened on June 3^rd in Madurai. Hansika a popular actor had become a true heroine in real life as well. En route to her hotel, witnessed a man lying by the side of a road. He had met with a bike accident and was bleeding heavily but there was no one to help. Her driver also drove right on, but the actress made him turn the car back.One of the pedestrians was asked to telephone the nearest hospital. Hansika waited till the ambulance arrived on the scene. Her mother being a doctor went with the victim in the ambulance while Hansika followed them in her car.

Doctors treated the patient at once and only on being informed that his condition was stable, did Hansika leave. Her timely help saved the man’s life as he had already lost a lot of blood and would have surely died without medical aid.

Certainly this commendable act and goes to prove that how people act with at most responsibility and everyone hopes that Good and responsible citizens of this country would follow her example and help those in need.

Coming to morally correct all the time, the recent happenings reported in the press like scam, agitations for Lok Pal Bill are indications of how moral and ethical values have taken a beat in the recent past. We can say all these are our reaction to the awareness the RTI Act had created. One may be legally right but true to his or her conscience is equally important. No doubt it is subjective and can be interpreted according to one’s values standard but one has to be true to his heart.

Media is judging Tendulkar’s decision to claim deductions under Section 80 RR of I-T Act on the ground an `actor’. Tendulkar had claimed deduction of 2 Crore out of 5 crore income stating that he was an actor `.The conduct rule of a government servant will interpret my action of buying an  item for my home from a place where I did transactions for my office in my official capacity as morally not correct.

The best way to judge the moral standard is always “put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel it hurts you it will probably hurt the other person, too.”

The word Citizen covers everything. We as citizen play varieties of role. Take me .I  am a Son to my parents, father to my kids, husband, a son-in-law ,an employee to my organization, a speaker in front of you and so on. Being responsible does not confine to one or few roles . Will your parents be happy if you say “I will be very Good in my studies and get you a first class degree, but rest it is my way  “.Certainly not.

During my early part of the career I use to be so attached to my work (Not that I am not attached now) told my wife not to depend on me for her household needs. She once asked me what I will do if I need something urgently. I told “Do not disturb me and if you need anything get in touch with my Personal Assistant who will handle it “. One day my wife lost patience and asked “If I have to depend on your personal Assistant why did I marry you? It suddenly struck me that I am not a responsible husband and I it was an eye opener and learning for me.

Being a responsible citizen mean a lot more discipline, sacrifice and commitment. Difficult job Yes it is.But it brings more harmony, happiness and joy for everyone.

Well! These are some of my thoughts and Charity begins at Home. Responsibility before expected from elsewhere has to start from the individual. It is a great task and we may blame the society, our fellowmen for they are not responsible. But what we can do? Let’s take care of yourself. We ourselves may feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean but as Mother Teresa said “the ocean would be less because of that missing drop” if we don’t start doing today. We can set a good example by becoming more RESPONSIBLE.

I thank Mr Govinda Sharma and the SDM Management for giving this wonderful opportunity and I wish you all “Good Luck”