ETHICS, MANNERS & ETIQUETTE - Part I

When a topic of paramount importance like ‘Ethics, manners & etiquette’ is tossed on to the corridors of internet readership, how would people react – with dismay? What response should one anticipate from general public? Cool - tepid or sullen?  Obviously, no eyebrows would be raised since the subject matter does not carry appeal in an age that is galloping towards a peak of human discoveries. A few, perhaps, might give it a cursory glance just for the heck of it. Some might even vie this as another move to add monotony to the already cumbersome life.  Quite elementary!  The topic in effect does not carry sufficient sting to steer the conscience of people who are surging ahead within meager resources in their bid to make a mark on the ladder of success and fame. 

Success, fame, reputation etc. and a long list of such aspirations nursed by present day generation do not easily connect with people without their attracting a formidable challenge.  These goals demand among others, a focused approach, a breath-taking suspense, a relentless endeavor and a sacrifice of immense measure. But to crown them all one needs to cultivate the virtue of perseverance.  Only then will a culmination be reached and the solemn accomplishment of their dream destiny can be arrived at.

In an age when every one hankers for a name for himself the evasive fame goes to the elite few who stand prepared to forego cheap glamour, stormy temptations and vane pleasures of life full of glee. This life is full of vanities but they that steer clear of the myth and mysteries of this vane life, concentrating keenly on the goal to be achieved, stand to gain in the long run.  In short, with a world slowly sliding in to a grossly haphazard scenario, focus and determination alone would enable success rendering a smile of fortune on the men of valor and integrity.

Generation after generation man watched the wondrous universe taking turns to reveal or manifest the ins and outs as well as facts and figures concerning creation, hitherto unknown to man. While the universe scrambled to consolidate a few million years under its creative history, the earth under the able stewardship of human inhabitants made its mark as a unique and progressive planet thereby creating an era of unparalleled developments in the history of mankind.  

Alongside the pace of progress and advancement doubled the stride by man, all the while keeping apace with time and age in the magnificent use of his own brain and machinery. Haste and competition caught the world unawares.  Caught in a race between time and development, man had recourse to an unprecedented move whereby he brazenly ignored the meaningful values of life and good demeanor. Gradually but unwittingly enough human beings forsook the sublime path of faith, dedication and hard work in return for a life of luxury, glamour and concupiscence.  Man shed his virtues in return for a life of glee, looking down scornfully upon the society with despise and detest. Sex and glamour did him in. He sacrificed all ideals of an enhanced life; he breached the dignity and valor of collective conscience in return for a crime-streaked path of inhuman extremism.  He achieved the latter but lost his peace.

The noted French Novelist Marcel Pagnol averred - “The reason people find it difficult to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be”.

Peace under the guise of happiness is an attribute to success. However, in order to savor its fragrance one has to live up to the supreme will of the Almighty, which our first parents, namely Adam and Eve failed to live up to.

It was an earthly bliss which our first parents, namely Adam and Eve earned by sheer dint of their being God Almighty’s first creation. They earned a care-free life of happiness and contentment but failed to secure it for long. Garden of Eden was abounding in God’s love but the first couple failed to capitalize on it.  Incidentally, Adam and Eve failed to decipher the writing on the wall. Probably because they missed their childhood or the schooling days; or may be they had no past to rely upon because they were born adults.

Despite having the whole world at their disposal and the Almighty constantly by their side, God Himself became a suspect in their eyes, and they pressed ahead to grab a formula that could place them at par with the Almighty. At the cost of an undeserved gift of love and happiness, they had to per force accept a life of nothingness on a barren and desolate earth. They were deprived of their happiness and the cause of it being a ‘disconnect’ with their nearest and only neighbor – God.

On their way out of Eden, the first couple made no plea for mercy; no supplication sent for a reversal of their plight or even a reconsideration of God’s will. They shed no tears for their guilt; there was no blaming one another either, save for a cursory pointer by Adam that he consented to the wishes of his companion as he was prepared to stand by her in bliss or in peril, without allowing a split to mar their oneness. The Almighty read their innermost thoughts and stopped short of banishing them from the bliss of Eden to a life of nothingness on a barren earth.

Marooned in a world of loneliness and desolation and left with a companion to feed and care for, man set about tilling the soil and taming cattle for a living. Time moved, centuries crossed and civilization after civilization dawned on man, as he grappled with living problems, took on challenges, adopted strategies that could deliver on the vital problems of life and with the advancement of time, made much inroads in to many of the hurdles and complexities of life. Man’s descendants followed suit and gradually through dexterous use of reason and intellect, man rose to prominence. Prosperity smiled on him and he soon found himself at the threshold of a modern era – an age of scientific inventions and notable achievements. Man’s living style changed and he became self sufficient for his everyday needs. Irrespective of the role played by each, in his or her capacity, the bond of oneness enabled humanity to provide a glimpse of a better and advanced world.

The duo combination, consisting of man and woman, successfully achieved a speck of an earthly glory that can, at best, be counted among part of a whole of what was lost in the Garden of Eden. Although the world affairs have always been dominated by the male category, the role of women and their contribution in overall progress and development of a civilized world came to be recognized only towards the second half of the twentieth century.  Nevertheless, it is a universally acknowledged fact that man could not have achieved this remarkable feat single handedly without the might of his fellow travelers, who have hitherto acted as the driving force in exploring far ends of the universe. In effect, the combination of instinct and human brain achieved the impossible by sticking together through thick and thin, thus becoming capable of exploring the world that always appeared a void to human eye.

What needs special mention here is the fact that man within an average life span of say 40 to 60 years managed to secure the key to a string of mysteries surrounding the earth and the universe, which would have been nearest to impossible without the active connivance of people and human beings around.  To put it plainly, a little child that crawls out of the arms of its mother, slowly steadies himself on his own feet and shyly learns to interact with grown-ups and elders, thereafter gradually transforms himself in to a force to reckon with, asserting his capability to take huge leaps in to position of bidding for the lowest depths, highest peaks and unending galaxies glittering in the horizon. But to achieve this, man must walk shoulder to shoulder with his generation.

Man has always been in the forefront of universal reforms and development, and in today’s world it is his unstinted efforts coupled with determination that enabled an otherwise barbarous world to have been disciplined in to submission that has made an era of reason and intelligence possible. Unfortunately, in the wake of his soaring ambitions and a chain of notable achievements, man by nature tended to develop an inertia towards those around him and the safest and the easiest target to let go off his temperament was his next door neighbor, a neighbor who with the passage of time created boundaries and divisions. In short creation of decisive walls separating one from the other, one society from the other, one nation from the other and finally even man himself from God.

Progress requires concentration. For concentration it is vital that one have recourse to a silent approach that can allow the mind to function without hitch. A viable theory that ought to accelerate the pace and progress of the world is ‘Silence’ which alone can set the tone for progress. A silent approach can necessarily carry sophistication and spur one towards excellence. The world must not lose sight of the fact that stillness of the universe spurred divinity to give voice to human beings and with voice followed mood and sophistication for a world swarming with finite beings advancing to levels of perfection – human perfection.

Indeed, out of the stillness of silence emerged the universe and life. The voice of divinity “Let there be light” dispelled the darkness, renting the stillness in to a vibrant world of humanity with a golden streak of truth and righteousness. The eternal silence gave way to voice of sanity, voice of life and in the glow of divine silence blossomed the love of human beings who learnt to respect other human beings, quite unparalleled in the unwritten history of human-divine relation which made its mark on mankind in the form of ‘ethics, manners & etiquette’.

World has advanced to a great extent. As a sequel to these changes the proverb ‘speech is silver but silence is golden’ too underwent tremendous change, to the detriment of human relationship. Evidently, the age old proverb no longer proved right for the present day generation. The sharpness of silence came in direct conflict with the sharpness of an ‘ego’, obviously a marked deflection of truth and righteousness. The new trend adopted by present day generation is one of focus and forthrightness, laying greater emphasis on advancement in life through quantity rather than adhering to the essence of quality and virtuousness. This attitude brought about the unwanted scare in the form of selfishness.

Discipline in everyday life has become as expensive as it is difficult to trade, hard to sell and harder still to transact in the normal course. A few genuine buyers who treasure this valuable component deem it a formidable task to keep pace with the run away procedures and advancement.

The ancient theory or to be precise, the old adage states, ‘Speech is silver but silence is golden’. Incidentally, the proverb has come of age and the golden suffix to silence too demands a rethink. 

When the iron is hot we strike, because it serves our purpose and in most instances we gain the lead.  How many of us make use of that sublime and heavenly concept which can send a lauder and clearer message to our opponents, adversaries and to the world?  Silence does the trick when nothing else works!

Silence definitely had its moment of reckoning. Its attributes are manifold. Silence ensures an audience. Silence refreshes, enthuses and fortifies the mind. Everything in the universe loses its originality at sometime or the other. Everything has to reduce, decrease or diminish as the case may be. Everything must die down to the stillness of silence. Silence is the culmination of everything. Silence is the beginning, the break and the end. Silence remains undaunted for out of the stillness of silence emerges a refreshing light, the dawn of life, the warmth of sound and the purity of God.

Ethics, Manners & Etiquette – Part – I ends here. We are a long way through to a world of righteousness. Await the next supplement of Ethics, Manners & Etiquette!         Till then Cheerio! ©